Appraisal of touching behavior, shame and disgust: a cross-cultural-study

The study investigated differences concerning the appraisal of one's own skin between people from Germany, Italy, France and Syria. A sample of 3360 subjects completed the Touch-Shame-Disgust-Questionnaire (TSD-Q), which measures pleasure in touching oneself, touching in a partnership and parental touching during childhood as well as (skin-related) shame and disgust. The factorial structure of the questionnaire could get replicated in the examined samples. Only four items had higher loadings on another than the original scale. Analytical results revealed significant cultural differences. Italian subjects scored significantly higher concerning the subscales pleasure in touching oneself (p<.001) and touching by a partner (p<.001). Germans and Italians scored significantly higher on the subscale pleasure in parental touching than Syrian and French subjects (p<.001). Concerning disgust Syrians reached significantly higher scores than French, German and Italian subjects (p<.001). Besides significant country-ef...