Human Affection Exchange: XII. Affectionate Communication is Associated with Diurnal Variation...

The desire to be loved and appreciated is a part of the human experience so deeply engrained that many have come to consider it a fundamental human need (Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Brown & Levinson, 1987; Maslow, 1970). It is perhaps unsurprising, therefore, that a robust body of research attests to the mental and physical health benefits of receiving expressions of love and appreciation in the form of affectionate communication. Affectionate communication encompasses those verbal and nonverbal

behaviors through which humans convey feelings of fondness, support, and love for others, and it serves a host of important functions with respect to the initiation and maintenance of personal relationships (for review, see Floyd, in press). Beyond those, however, it also appears to enhance the health and well-being of those who receive such expressions. In a multiwave longitudinal study, for instance, Schwartz and Russek (1998) reported that the amount of love and caring college students had expressed to them by their parents significantly (and inversely) predicted their physical and psychological distress as many as 42 years later. Similarly, Komisaruk and Whipple (1998) reported that those who receive fewer expressions of love than they desire tend to be more susceptible to psychosomatic illness, whereas Shuntich, Loh, and Katz (1998) found affection to be negatively associated with alcohol abuse and physical aggression toward family members. Several studies have found that lack of affection is associated with loneliness (Downs & Javidi, 1990) and depression (Mackinnon, Henderson, & Andrews, 1993; Oliver, Raftery, Reeb, & Delaney, 1993). Conversely, physical affectionate behavior has been shown to play a role in the reduction of pain and psychological anxiety (Spence & Olson, 1997) and to enhance the body's ability to heal itself (see Krieger, 1973; Olson & Sneed, 1995).