Mighty mood maker: Touch

We already know that color, sounds, and smells can affect moods. Thanks to new research from Yale University we can now add touch. More than that, the study suggests touch affects how we view the world and fellow man.

In short, the softer the touch (think comfy armchair or a baby's smooth skin) the happier is the resulting feeling. The harder the touch (cold floor or jagged plastic), the more aggressive or selfish. While this six-part study published in the journal Science is much broader, it reinforces results of a 2008 study which found in part that after simply holding a warm cup of coffee, people see others as more generous and caring.

Apparently phrases such as "warm heart," "rough day" and "hard line" are more than metaphor. Touch affects the way we feel, not just the way we feel.

In a series of studies subjects were given objects to touch or handle, then asked questions about their perceptions. In one they read a passage about an interaction between two people. Those who first handled roughly textured jigsaw puzzle pieces were more likely to characterize the characters as adversarial; most who handled smooth puzzle pieces were not.

Subjects sitting in hard, cushionless chairs were less willing to compromise in price negotiations than were those sitting in soft chairs. Even clipboard weight affected mood in an interview exercise. Heavier clipboard-holders approached the job with greater seriousness than did light clipboard holders.

The Yale psychologists who conducted the study believe that reasons for these reactions go back to infancy, when physical comfort was most important to infant mood. Physical concepts, associations, and learning are the first to develop in human experience.

What we may take from this beyond the obvious benefits of self-awareness is preparation. Before analyzing a mood we can consider touch and if the mood is negative, try simple solutions before drawing significant conclusion. Move to a softer chair, pet a cat. Significant conversations and worse, argument, may be affected by doing the same.

Life is in essence an exercise in increasing awareness - of self and surroundings. As elemental as it sounds, sometimes we forget the power of the senses to provide it.

Thanks to reader Kali Karst for the topic suggestion.

Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. [email protected].