Subjective ratings
In line with pupil dilation findings, we observed a main effect of Hand type [F(1,119) = 32.062, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.212], indicating that participants preferred to receive a touch from a Human hand than from an Artificial hand [t(119) = 5.662, p < 0.001]. Also, we found a main effect of Touch type [F(1,119) = 15.087, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.113], indicating that participants preferred to receive a Dynamic than a Static touch [t(119) = 3.884, p < 0.001]. Finally, we also found a significant Hand type by Touch type interaction [F(1,119) = 7.402, p = 0.044, η2 = 0.034], which showed that participants preferred to receive a Dynamic touch from a Human hand. Indeed, post-hoc pairwise comparisons showed that Dynamic touch from a Human hand condition received the highest ratings compared to all other conditions [Dynamic_Human vs. Dynamic_Artificial: t(119) = 3.657, p < 0.001; Dynamic_Human vs. Static_Human: t(119) = 2.343, p = 0.021; Dynamic_Human vs. Static_Artificial: t(119) = 7.070, p < 0.001] (Figure 2e ). These results, in line with physiological findings, indicate that participants rated as the most pleasant a dynamic touch delivered by a human hand.