An Exploratory Study of Body‐Accessibility 1

Abstract

A body‐accessibility questionnaire was submitted to 168 male and 140 female unmarried college students. The aim was to determine the extent to which college students permit their parents and closest friends of each sex to see and touch their bodies, and the extent to which they have seen and touched the bodies of these ‘target‐persons’. The bodies of the S s and of the target‐persons were reportedly more visually than tactually accessible. The greatest range of tactual interchange occurred between the S s and their closest friends of the opposite sex. Significant relationships were found between the measures of seeing another's body and being seen by that person, and between touching the other's body, and being touched by him. The male S s touched fewer regions of their mothers' bodies than were touched by their mothers, and they were not touched by their mothers on as many regions as the females were. The females exchanged physical contact on more areas of the body with their fathers than did the males. There was also significant correlation among the measures of contact with each of the target‐persons under consideration, suggesting that body‐accessibility is a personality trait. Protestant and Catholic females reported being touched by their boy friends on more body regions than did Jewish females. S s who rated themselves as plain or unattractive reported being touched on less of their body surface than did S s who rated themselves as average or attractive in appearance. There was much variability in body‐accessibility associated with region of the body, and both sexes showed similarity in the regions which were most, and which were least accessible to the touch of others.

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