Summary: Ackerman et al. (2010)

The first sense to develop is touch, and it is a critical means of manipulating the environment and acquiring information. Physically touching objects allows for the development of both intra- and interpersonal conceptual and metaphorical knowledge and provide the platform for knowledge application. Impressions and decisions formed about strangers and novel situations were nonconsciously influenced when an individual experienced objects of varying weights and textures. Ackerman et al. (2010) found that job candidates appeared more important if they held heavy objects, while social interactions were more challenging when rough objects were held. Furthermore, holding hard objects increased negotiation rigiditiy. They suggest that higher social cognitive processing is influenced by basic tactile sensations in both metaphor- and dimension-specific ways.