The Experience of Affective Touch in Obesity

Affective touch paradigm: experimental stimuli will include the touch of a soft cosmetic, a hand, which will be both expected to resemble affective pleasant stimulations, and a plastic stick with a rounded tip, as a control (non-affective) condition. Two speeds of stimulation will be adopted i) slow affective stimuli delivered at 3 cm/s and fast non-affective stimuli, delivered at non-optimal speed (18 cm/s). An imagery version of the task will be also administered: blindfolded participants will be asked to image the touches on their left forearm. After each (actual or imagined) tactile stimulus, individuals will rate the experience level of pleasantness. As part of the protocol, they will fill out two psychological questionnaires, assessing the level of social anhedonia and the amount and characteristics of the lifespan experiences of affective touch inclose relationships.