The warm fuzzies and cold pricklies phenomena grew out of a children's storybook by Claude Steiner that was popular in the late 60's, early 70's. You can read a variation of the story here:
http://www.emotional-literacy.com/fuzzy.htm

The concept of warm fuzzies became a teaching/training tool for people who worked with children. It also became a tool for psychiatrists working within the Transactional Analysis personality evolution theory, which essentially declared that "folks need strokes", thus the importance of giving out warm fuzzies versus cold pricklies.