Touch Matters: Handshakes, Hugs, and the New Science on How Touch Can Enhance Your Well-Being

A fascinating scientific and sociological exploration of our most underappreciated sense.

Every day, we use our sense of touch to navigate the world. A handshake, a pat on the shoulder, a hug—all are essential touches that make up our daily lives. In Touch Matters, social neuroscientist Michael Banissy brings together diverse scientific insights from the Touch Test—the world’s largest contemporary survey on touch, with 40,000 participants from 112 countries.

Professor Banissy unfolds the research behind why touch is essential to our well-being, combining expert findings with notable touch points in pop culture to explore the role it plays in our physical and digital social life, in the workplace, in the bedroom, and more. Learn why a hugged person is a happier person, why teams who high-five each other win more games, and how a handshake makes you more likely to tell the truth. Banissy offers a groundbreaking and surprising new perspective on touch, with guidance on how to enhance your level of touch for a happier, healthier life, exploring topics including:

• Your “touch personality”
• How touch defines our relationships and our self-esteem
• The impact of touch on our physical and mental health
• Cultural distinctions around touch and how to navigate them
• Solutions to the “touch hunger” that has become a modern epidemic

 
Touch Matters is a fascinating window into one of our most important and basic senses—and how to harness its power.