A mere holding effect: Haptic influences on impression formation through mobile dating apps

Abstract Tandem advances in mobile technologies and social networks have given rise to app-initiated romantic relationships. Little is understood, however, about the role of the device in this initiation. This experimental study explored the impact of “mere holding” of mobile devices on impressions formed when consuming dating app content. Mere holding (compared to no-touch viewing) was associated with reduced attraction, ascribed personhood, and psychological ownership. Findings suggest that holding may be experienced as a false realization of potential relationships through physical engagement of devices; theoretically, this realization may be understood as an inversion of interpersonal haptic nonverbals, as holding is less about interpersonal intimacy and more about heuristic engagement with the other as an object.

[1]  C. Spence,et al.  The science of interpersonal touch: An overview , 2010, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

[2]  Patti M. Valkenburg,et al.  Friend Networking Sites and Their Relationship to Adolescents' Well-Being and Social Self-Esteem , 2006, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[3]  H. Markus,et al.  The effect of mere presence on social facilitation: An unobtrusive test , 1978 .

[4]  J. Cacioppo,et al.  On seeing human: a three-factor theory of anthropomorphism. , 2007, Psychological review.

[5]  C. Wetzel,et al.  The Midas Touch , 1984 .

[6]  J. Peck,et al.  The Effect of Mere Touch on Perceived Ownership , 2009 .

[7]  J. R. French,et al.  The bases of social power. , 1959 .

[8]  J. Cappella.  The Faclal Feedback Hypothesis in Human Interaction , 1993 .

[9]  James B. Avey,et al.  Psychological ownership: theoretical extensions, measurement and relation to work outcomes , 2009, Journal of Organizational Behavior.

[10]  Andrew K. Przybylski,et al.  Can you connect with me now? How the presence of mobile communication technology influences face-to-face conversation quality , 2013 .

[11]  A. Giddens.  The Transformation of Intimacy: Sexuality, Love, and Eroticism in Modern Societies , 1992 .

[12]  T. Quandt,et al.  Relational Trust and Distrust: Ingredients of Face-to-Face and Media-based Communication , 2016 .

[13]  James Gaskin,et al.  I’m Proud of It: Consumer Technology Appropriation and Psychological Ownership , 2015 .

[14]  Norah E. Dunbar,et al.  NONVERBAL EXPRESSIONS OF DOMINANCE AND POWER IN HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS , 2006 .

[15]  Dan Ariely,et al.  What makes you click?—Mate preferences in online dating , 2010 .

[16]  Erin M. Schumaker,et al.  The Effects of Verbal Versus Photographic Self‐Presentation on Impression Formation in Facebook , 2012 .

[17]  Susan R. Fussell,et al.  How people anthropomorphize robots , 2008, 2008 3rd ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI).

[18]  Michael J. Rosenfeld,et al.  Searching for a Mate , 2012 .

[19]  Alexander Toet,et al.  Social Touch in Human–Computer Interaction , 2015, Front. Digit. Humanit..

[20]  J. Banks.  Of Beard Physics and Worldness: The (Non-)Effect of Enhanced Anthropomorphism on Player–Avatar Relations , 2017 .

[21]  N. Henley.  POWER, SEX, AND NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION* , 2016 .

[22]  J. L. Pierce,et al.  The State of Psychological Ownership: Integrating and Extending a Century of Research , 2003 .

[23]  D. Haraway,et al.  A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century , 2013 .

[24]  Stephen Owen,et al.  Liquid love? Dating apps, sex, relationships and the digital transformation of intimacy , 2017 .

[25]  John Short,et al.  The social psychology of telecommunications , 1976 .

[26]  Jacob Hornik,et al.  Tactile Stimulation and Consumer Response , 1992 .

[27]  J. Burgoon.  Interpersonal Expectations, Expectancy Violations, and Emotional Communication , 1993 .

[28]  J. Bargh,et al.  Experiencing Physical Warmth Promotes Interpersonal Warmth , 2008, Science.

[29]  Wijnand A. IJsselsteijn,et al.  Mediated social touch: a review of current research and future directions , 2006, Virtual Reality.

[31]  C. Kleinke,et al.  Effects of Mutual Gaze and Touch on Attraction, Mood, and Cardiovascular Reactivity , 1993 .

[32]  Christopher J. Carpenter,et al.  The players of micro-dating: Individual and gender differences in goal orientations toward micro-dating apps , 2016, First Monday.

[33]  Paul W. Eastwick,et al.  Online Dating , 2012, Psychological science in the public interest : a journal of the American Psychological Society.

[34]  Nicole B. Ellison,et al.  Relationshopping: Investigating the market metaphor in online dating , 2010 .

[35]  Sonja Utz,et al.  The Role of Social Network Sites in Romantic Relationships: Effects on Jealousy and Relationship Happiness , 2011, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[36]  D. Buhrmester,et al.  Gender Differences in Early Adolescents’ Relationship Qualities, Self-Efficacy, and Depression Symptoms , 2002 .

[37]  Zeynep Cemalcilar,et al.  Rubbernecking Effect of Intimate Information on Twitter: When Getting Attention Works Against Interpersonal Attraction , 2015, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[38]  Maeve Duggan,et al.  Online dating and relationships , 2013 .

[39]  S. Shyam Sundar,et al.  Anthropomorphism of computers: Is it mindful or mindless? , 2012, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[40]  R. Cross,et al.  Why Should I Trust You? Predictors of Interpersonal Trust in a Knowledge Transfer Context , 2002 .

[41]  D. Horton,et al.  Mass communication and para-social interaction; observations on intimacy at a distance. , 1956, Psychiatry.

[42]  L. Sharabi,et al.  What predicts first date success? A longitudinal study of modality switching in online dating , 2017 .

[43]  J. Mccroskey,et al.  An Introduction to Interpersonal Communication , 1971 .

[44]  Carolina Cambre,et al.  Screened Intimacies: Tinder and the Swipe Logic , 2016 .

[45]  A. J. Ayer,et al.  The Concept of a Person: and Other Essays , 1963 .

[46]  J. Mccroskey,et al.  The measurement of interpersonal attraction , 1974 .

[47]  David Westerman,et al.  Welcoming Our Robot Overlords: Initial Expectations About Interaction With a Robot , 2014 .

[48]  Wen-Bin Chiou,et al.  More Options Lead to More Searching and Worse Choices in Finding Partners for Romantic Relationships Online: An Experimental Study , 2009, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[49]  Clifford Nass,et al.  The media equation - how people treat computers, television, and new media like real people and places , 1996 .

[50]  Dana Kulic,et al.  Measurement Instruments for the Anthropomorphism, Animacy, Likeability, Perceived Intelligence, and Perceived Safety of Robots , 2009, Int. J. Soc. Robotics.

[51]  M. Argyle.  THE SYNTAXES OF BODILY COMMUNICATION , 1973 .

[52]  M. Knapp,et al.  Social intercourse: From greeting to goodbye , 1978 .

[53]  Jacob Cohen.  Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences , 1969, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Research Design.

[54]  Frank Biocca,et al.  The Effect of the Agency and Anthropomorphism on Users' Sense of Telepresence, Copresence, and Social Presence in Virtual Environments , 2003, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[55]  J. Uleman,et al.  Spontaneous versus intentional inferences in impression formation , 1999 .

[56]  M. Davidson,et al.  Objectification Among College Women in the Context of Intimate Partner Violence , 2013, Violence and Victims.

[57]  Michael Sunnafrank.  Predicted Outcome Value During Initial Interactions A Reformulation of Uncertainty Reduction Theory , 1986 .

[58]  C. Nass,et al.  Machines and Mindlessness , 2000 .