On: To influence people don't try to persuade them, us...

[nitrogen]

I wonder, have any studies been done on identifying why some people find physical contact repellent? For example, I strongly dislike being touched in any way by bosses, salespeople, etc. It immediately makes me distrust them.

What leads to this difference, and have any studies or persuasion artists tried to detect and account for them?

[pmarreck → nitrogen]

Without trying to stereotype whatsoever, it's my impression that one group of people who loathe touch are autistics, http://healthland.time.com/2012/03/19/understanding-why-auti... but I don't know of a general term for the phenomenon