ERIC Number: EJ1434660
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Aug
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1362-3613
EISSN: EISSN-1461-7005
Exploring Social Touch in Autistic and Non-Autistic Adults via a Self-Report Body-Painting Task: The Role of Sex, Social Context and Body Area
Manuel Mello; Martina Fusaro; Salvatore Maria Aglioti; Ilaria Minio-Paluello
Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice, v28 n8 p1985-2001 2024
In the typically developing population, social touch experiences are influenced by several factors, including the biological sex of toucher and receiver, the body area wherein the touch is delivered and the social context in which the tactile exchange occurs. However, it is currently unexplored how social touch experiences of autistic adults are modulated by these factors. We sought to address this by utilizing a self-report body-painting task. Our main results show that autistic, compared with non-autistic, adults reported lower levels of pleasantness, erogeneity and appropriateness, specifically in intimate and friendly social contexts and in body areas typically touched in these situations. Importantly, sex played a major role in group differences. For instance, although autistic females reported, across social contexts, less pleasantness than both non-autistic females and autistic males, they experienced similar levels of appropriateness in the professional social context, usually deemed as touch-appropriate. Our findings provide new support to the hypothesis that social touch is experienced and possibly conceptualized differently by autistic compared with non-autistic adults. Moreover, by identifying the factors that influence social touch processing in autistic adults, our results might aid the development of support for autistic individuals seeking help in the spheres of social and intimate touch.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Adults, Gender Differences, Human Body, Sensory Experience, Tactual Perception, Social Environment, Interpersonal Relationship
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Italy
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A