affect the degree to which individuals share their personal space, gaze and physical contact during interactions. In a High contact culture, such as South America, Latin America, Southern Europe, Africa, Russia, the Middle East and others, people tend to share more physical contact. High contact cultures communicate through long gazes, long hugs, and share a decrease in proxemics. Low contact Low contact cultures such as: The United States, Canada, Northern Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Asia prefer infrequent touching, larger physical distance, indirect body orientations (during interaction) along with little share gazes. In the Thai culture, kissing a friend on the cheek is less common than in the Latin Americas. Remland and Jones studied groups of people communicating and found that in England (8%), France (5%) and the Netherlands (4%), touching was rare compared to the Italian (14%) and Greek (12.5%) samples. Internal differences Frequency of touch also varies significantly between different cultures. Harper refers to several studies, one of which examined touching in coffee houses. During a one-hour sitting 180 touchings were observed for Puerto Ricans, 110 for French, none for English and 2 for Americans. (Harper, 297). In order to know if someone was touching more frequently than normal it would be necessary to first know what is normal in that culture. In high touch countries a kiss on the cheek is considered a polite greeting while in Sweden it may be considered presumptuous. Jandt relates that two men holding hands will in some countries be a sign of friendly affection, whereas in the United States the same tactile code would probably be interpreted as a symbol of homosexual love. Emotion and touch Recently, researchers have shown that touch communicates distinct emotions such as anger, fear, happiness, sympathy, love, and gratitude. Moreover, the accuracy with which subjects were capable of communicating the emotions were commensurate with facial and vocal displays of emotion. Depression has been linked to touch deprivation in adults and research has established associations between touch deprivation and eating disorders. Men have been found more likely to experience touch deprivation than women due to stronger social prohibitions against same-sex touching among adult males. See also Consoling touch Haptic perception Physical intimacy: Holding hands Tickling Kissing Making out Massage Erotic massage Human sexual activity Other touch: Frotteurism Groping Personal boundaries Cultural studies Edward T. Hall Bertram Raven Negiah Notes References Phyllis Davis: The Power of Touch –