A hug is most often remembered as a sign of comfort, support and understanding, but men are more likely than women to describe it as an arousing experience. This shows a study of 15,049 adults in the UK, led by Anna Lena Duren from the University of Bristol and published in the journal PLOS One.
Arousal was cited by 3.9% of men who remember a hug, compared to 0.8% of women. Despite the difference, this is the least frequently cited reason among men. Comfort comes first, followed by support, friendliness and happiness.
“Among participants who recalled a hug, men were more likely than women to describe it as arousing,” says Duren.
About 70% of all participants - 69.5% - remembered a hug because of its positive emotional effect. About a third of women associated such a memory with comfort, while about a quarter of men did the same.
The authors note that a hug can have different meanings depending on the person and the situation. People who regularly greet friends and relatives with a hug are more likely to remember these moments positively. The opposite was observed for participants who were uncomfortable with physical contact or did not know how to hug.
Higher empathy and greater awareness of bodily sensations were also associated with a greater likelihood of remembering a hug as a significant positive experience. However, women made up about 75% of the sample, which limits the possibility that the results can be unconditionally transferred to the entire population.
The study does not prove the cause of the differences
The study is observational and shows links between personality characteristics, attitudes towards physical contact and memories of hugs. It does not prove that a particular personality trait or specific type of behavior causes the way a person perceives a hug.
The results were obtained from participants in the United Kingdom, where cultural attitudes towards physical contact may differ from those in other societies. The researchers therefore suggest that the next step is to examine the role of personality, prior experience and the context in which the hug occurs.
The data complement previous research on social touch. A separate study found that romantic partners hug for an average of 7.02 seconds, while friends hug for an average of 2.88 seconds. Another study of 404 people linked hugging after a conflict to fewer negative emotions in the hours and days that followed.