The influence of age, sex, family size, and community size on attitude toward tactile communication

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to find the relationship of age, sex, family size and community size to tactile attitudes. The Hines Tactility Measure (Hines, 1978) and the Tactile Avoidance Measure (Anderson & Leibowitz, 1976) were administered to 525 subjects ranging from 18 to 92 years of age. Subprograms performed on the data collected were: a Stepwise Multiple Regression, a Frequency analysis, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation, and Reliability. Results indicated that approximately 8.7% (p <.01) of the variance was accounted for by the four variables. Other findings were that tactility decreased as age, family size, and community size increased, and that tactility was strongest among females. The internal analysis of each test and the .71 (p <.01) intercorrelation between the tests indicated that both measures were valid and reliable predictors of tactile attitudes. The Reliability subprogram yielded a standardized item alpha of .87 on the Hines, and .82 on the TAM.