Partner intimate touch is associated with increased interpersonal closeness, especially in non-romantic partners

Nicole Prause, Greg J. Siegle, James Coan, Marta Panzeri
2021 PLoS ONE  
Relationship closeness promotes desirable health outcomes. Most interventions to increase relationship closeness are verbal, which may not suit all couples. We consider whether Orgasmic Meditation (OM), a structured, partnered, largely non-verbal practice that includes genital touch, also increases relationship closeness. We hypothesized that OM would increase feelings of closeness for both romantic and non-romantic partners. This is important, because intimate touch with non-romantic partners
more » ... s commonly considered deleterious by clinicians, which may inadvertently increase feelings of shame. Dyads (n = 125) reported their feelings of closeness before and after OM. Approximately half of the participants were romantic partners, while the other half only engaged in OM together (non-romantic). Closeness after OM increased on average across participants. Non-romantic dyads increased self-other overlap more than romantic dyads. These data support that a partnered, largely non-verbal practice is associated with increased feelings of closeness in the moment, including for individuals who are not in a romantic relationship.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0246065 pmid:33690603 pmcid:PMC7946224 fatcat:t6zazxwrubcpnps7e6a5xpsdte