Negative tactile experience could foster a lack of felt
security with the attachment figure’s physical availability when the need for contact comfort
arises. It is such a history that would potentially compromise subsequent attachment-related
interactions. For example, Main (1990) found that a mother’s aversion to physical contact
with her child during a stressful situation was significantly related to the mother’s perceived
rejection of her own bids for contact as a child and to her infant’s insecure attachment
behavior (Main & Weston, 1981). Such theoretically-based findings suggest that a mother’s
felt security regarding her own tactile history may interact with her actual use of touch to
influence her infant’s security of attachment.