Benjamin Cook

Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Harley, Heidi

Area of Concentration

Biopsychology

Abstract

Self-touch gestures occur every day in nearly every human, though not much information is known about why they occur. One hypothesis that has been echoed throughout psychological literature is that these behaviors allow an individual to regulate the amount of sensory information they receive, and thus act as a tool for regulating negative affect. Nicotine use, and substance use more generally, is considered an example of expressive suppression, an emotional regulation strategy that ultimately leads to more negative affect. The connection between self-touch gestures and nicotine use has been understudied despite both variables being connected to emotional regulation. The current study compared the frequency of self-touch gestures expressed by a group of nicotineconsuming participants and a group of non-consuming participants under conditions of sadness, anxiety, and boredom, using video clips to induce these states. Overall, the nicotine-consuming group expressed significantly more self-touch gestures than the nonconsuming group. Both groups expressed the most behaviors in the bored condition. These results suggest that nicotine users may require more stimulation to regulate their emotions than individuals who do not consume nicotine. Understanding the effects of nicotine use is important and relevant due to the increasing popularity of e-cigarettes and ease of access to nicotine products.

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