‘Touch­ier’ bas­ket­ball teams and play­ers (those who bump, hug and high five the most) are more suc­cess­ful than those who limit their non-playing phys­i­cal con­tact. Sim­i­larly, higher sat­is­fac­tion has been reported in roman­tic rela­tion­ships in which the part­ners touch more.

Just two of the find­ings from research look­ing at the impor­tance of touch­ing in rela­tion­ships.

Stu­dents who received a sup­port­ive touch on the back or arm from a teacher were nearly twice as likely to vol­un­teer in class as those who did not, stud­ies have found. A sym­pa­thetic touch from a doc­tor leaves peo­ple with the impres­sion that the visit lasted twice as long, com­pared with esti­mates from peo­ple who were untouched. […] A mas­sage from a loved one can not only ease pain but also soothe depres­sion and strengthen a relationship.

via @charliehoehn