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Carianne Doyle
Assignment 3
SOC 214
1 December 2014

Introduction:
Despite its importance for a healthy relationship, public displays of
affection have received some social scrutiny. Primarily in the society
that we are surrounded in while living in Boston, many people see
public displays of affection as unnecessary and should only happen
behind closed doors. However, the definition of public displays of
affections may vary from person to person. To me, publics displays of
affection are not limited to people who are in an intimate relationship
with one another. Public displays of affection could be a high five or a
hug from a friend, a kiss on the cheek from a family member, or
something more intimate like a kiss from a significant other or rub on
the back. Public displays of affection are ultimately an interaction
between different numbers of people. I conducted an observational
study of displays of affections in a public setting. This study was a
qualitative research study conducted to see how people displayed
affections publically, if different social factors had any impact on those
displays, and the reasoning behind this human behavior.

Methods
This observational study was conducted at a local Boston restaurant
called The Tip Tap Room on Tuesday, November 25 2014 around 5
oclock PM and I observed for roughly 45 minutes. The restaurant is
located at 138 Cambridge Street, right up the street from the TD

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Garden, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Government Center. The
area where this study took place is primarily first come first serve
tables in the bar section where the energy is high. Large garage doors
give this section of the restaurant plenty of light even though the wall
color and table colors are dark. I sat at a high top table, which I labeled
table ten on the map. This table gave me great views of the
surrounding tables since I was higher up from the ground. At this time,
the restaurant was relatively crowded. I could relate this to the location
of the restaurant being directly up the street from the TD Garden and
the Bruins were scheduled to play later that evening.
During this 45-minute period of observation I noted four different
parties that performed in public displays of affections, all ranging in
different age groups. I inconspicuously made notes of their interactions
as I observed.
Observation group 1:
The first table I observed was a couple in their mid twenties, one male
and one female. The male opened the door for the woman and pointed
her in the direction of the host stand. This meant that the couple must
have booked a reservation for this evening. I over heard the woman
request a table by the big garage door window I had mentioned about
previously. Once at the table the male pulled out the chair for the
female and assisted her in taking her jacket off. The couple ordered a
round of drinks once the server arrived and clicked their glasses

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together once they received those drinks. While waiting for their food,
the couple engaged in conversation and the woman was smiling often.
The woman also brushed her leg against the males leg twice during
conversation and held hands from across the table for most of the
conversational period.

Observation group 2:
The next table observed was a table of four people, two male and
female couples that were in their late fifties to early sixties. They
seemed to be on a double date. The first couple sat in the chairs with
their back towards me and the second couple sat in the bench seats.
The male in the first couple that was sitting in the chairs had his arm
around the females chair and back for the duration of the observation.
While engaging in conversation, the male of that couple rubbed the
females back five times. During this same conversation period, the
female of the second couple playfully grabbed onto the males arm 3
times while laughing. The four of the people in the party ordered a
bottle of wine to split, clicked their glasses together when they
received them, and it seemed as though their conversations and
laughter amplified as they drank more wine.
Observation group 3:

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The third table that I observed was another male and female couple
that were in their mid thirties. They were seated at a rounded table
when I first arrived and were wearing Bruins attire. It seemed, as
though they were going to attend the Bruins game shortly after
because their tickets were on the table to the TD Garden. This couple
seemed to be married; they were both wearing wedding bands. The
woman was seated to the left of the man, and was seated on the same
side of the bench. This table was the most intimate table that I
observed because it was tucked away in the corner. The female in this
couple had her legs intertwined under the table with the males legs.
However, technology seemed to get in between the conversation flow
between the two of them. While the female subject was talking, the
male would be looking at his phone or watching a football game on the
television positioned above them. The females phone was also a
distraction to her when the roles were reverse. After these failed
exchanges of conversation, based on facial expressions, it seemed as if
the female was fed up and aggravated and the two engaged in what
looked like a heated conversation. Their faced were close to one
another when this exchange was happening and once the conversation
subsided, the couple kissed twice. The couple then each shared a first
course. The woman fed the man some of her course with her utensil.
While exiting, the female helped the man put his vest on the she lead
the way out of the restaurant.

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Observation group 4:
The final table I observed was a male and female couple in their mid
twenties. While entering, the male opened the first door for the female
subject and the female subject opened the second door for the male
subject. Once they were seated, the conversations started to flourish.
Based on the awkward body language initially between the two, it
seemed like this was a first date or that they had just newly started
dating. Each of the subjects were blushing frequently while the other
spoke. The male subject spoke often, and with his hands. The female
sat with her elbows on the table and her hand in her chin, looking
attentively at the male while he spoke to her. There was a good trade
off of conversation; they let one another speak. When the couple first
sat down they seemed very tense and stiff, but as they ordered a
round of drinks and progressed through their meals, they seemed to be
more comfortable with one another.

Analysis:
I originally had believed that displays of affection would occur limitedly
in public due to the social stigma that was put upon them. After
conducting this research I found this to not be true. Though this
setting is open to the public, it does not have as large of a population
than some other places such as the Boston Commons or the Public
Gardens. Social status did not have any importance in influencing

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behavior in this type of setting. What I did observe is alcohol and
technology had both positive and negative influences in influencing the
behavior between the couples. The couple that was seated at table
seven was negatively affected by technology. The conversation lacked
flow because of distractions from technology. If the couple was not
distracted by technology then they may have displayed more affection
publically. On the topic of public displays of affection, Alcohol affected
the couples at tables eight and six positively. The couples seemed
more comfortable with each other once drinks started to arrive and
they displayed more frequent displays of affection once this happened
as well.

Conclusion:
Strengths and weaknesses were exposed while performing this
observational field research study. The strengths of this study were the
location, the time of day, and the day of the week this study was
conducted on. The setting allowed couples to get the chance to be
close to one another over a longer period of time, which gave them the
option to display affection. This study was conducted during the
beginning of the dinner rush on a day where there was an event going
on right down the street so there were people available to observe, but
it wasnt overly crowded. The weaknesses I observed was ironically the
setting as well. Based on the location I was able to get a table at, I
could not see the facial expression from the male sitting at table five

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because his back was directly towards me. I could not inconspicuously
look at his face, though I tried to get up a couple times to see. I do not
believe that the findings in this study are generalizable. The frequency
of public displays of affections in this location had a number of
different factors in it that may not be present in other settings. The
sample size of this study was also relatively small, so I do not believe
that I have enough information to determine that these findings are
generalizable to all populations. Different circumstances and
characteristics directly affect our social behaviors. In regards to public
displays of affections, one person may not feel comfortable displaying
affection publically in places where they can directly be seen. They
may however display affections publically if they know they are not
being watched directly or could be seen easily. In the future, it would
be interesting to see how people behave later on in the evening at The
Tip Tap Room since it does turn into a late night bar. One could study if
alcohol has more of an affect on public displays of affection in that
setting after drinking larger quantities of alcohol.

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Field NotesBefore heading home for Thanksgiving I had two hours to spare before
my train left so I walked into a local restaurant called The Tip Tap
Room, where they have first come first serve seating in the bar section
of the restaurant. I sat at a high top table, table number 10 on the
map, which gave me great views of the surrounding tables. This
restaurant was relatively crowded, being right up the street from the
TD Garden and there was a Bruins hockey game scheduled later in the
evening.
Table 5- This couple entered the restaurant shortly after I arrived.
There was one man and one woman, mid 20s. The man opened the
door for the woman and pointed her to the direction of the host stand,
meaning that they had made a dinner reservation. I could hear the
woman request a table in the bar section so they could have a window
seat. Once at the table, the male pulled out the chair for the female
and helped take her jacket off. The couple both ordered beers once
their server arrived. When they received those beers they clicked their
glasses together in celebration. They engaged in conversation after
they ordered and the woman was smiling often. During the
conversations the woman brushed her leg on the man twice and they
also held hands from across the table. When the couple received their
first course, the female fed the male off of her plate. They each

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ordered another round of drinks and then the male ordered a third
while the woman switched to water.
Table 6- At this table there were 4 people, 2 men and 2 women, who
seemed to be on a double date, late 50s early 60s. The first couple sat
in the chairs with their backs towards me and the second couple sat in
the bench seats. The man in the first couple had his arm around the
womans back and her chair. While engaging in conversation, the male
of couple 1 rubbed the females back 5 times. Also while engaging in
conversation, the female of couple 2 grabbed the males arm 3 times
while she was laughing. This couple ordered a bottle of wine to split
between the 4 of them. When they received their wine glasses they
clicked glasses. It seemed as though their laughter got louder as the
night progressed and as they drank more wine.
Table 7- A man and a woman were seated at a rounded table when I
first arrived. They were wearing Bruins attire and seemed to be
married; they were both wearing wedding bands, mid 30s. It seemed
as though they had not been there for too much longer than I because
they just received their drink orders when I sat down. The woman was
seated left to the man, they both sat on the same side of the bench.
She had her legs intertwined with the mans under the table.
Technology seemed to get in the way of conversation flow between the
two of them. The woman would be talking while the man was looking
at his phone or watching a football game on the television positioned

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above them. Her phone also distracted the female when the male tried
to engage in a conversation with her. After these failed exchanged of
conversation, based on facial expressions, it seemed as if the woman
was fed up and aggravated and the two engaged in what looked like a
intense conversation. Their faces were close to each other when this
was occurring and once the conversation subsided the couple kissed
twice and then their courses came out. They each shared a first course
and shared some of their food from their plates at the second course.
The woman fed the man with her utensil. The two looked at a dessert
menu but decided against it. In exiting, the woman helped the man put
his vest on and the woman lead the way out of the restaurant.

Table 8- This table involved a male and a female, mid to late 20s.
While entering the restaurant the male opened the first door for the
female and the female opened the second door for the male. Once
they were seated, conversations flowed. Based on the body language
between the two, it seemed like this was a first date or that they
couple just newly started dating. They were each blushing frequently
while the other spoke. The male talked often and with his hands. The
female sat with her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands,
looking attentively at the male while he spoke. Eye contact was
frequent. There was a good trade off of conversation; they let one
another speak. When the couple first sat down they seemed tense and

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stiff, but as they progressed through their meals and rounds of drinks
they seemed to be more comfortable with one another.