Hug Matters
Hugs, like handshakes, high-five, or kisses, are one of our body languages to show love, support, and affection. Besides hugs’ physical and emotional comfort, they also give us many health benefits.
Hugs reduce stress and anxiety
The Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at Ruhr University in Germany gathered 38 pairs of romantic partners with an average age of 22.3 years old in an experiment. They measured participants’ cortisol levels, blood pressure, and PANAS (positive and negative affect schedule) before and after the stressful events. They concluded that women who physically embraced their partners before the designed stress event showed reduced cortisol compared to a controlled group in which no hugs occurred before the stress event.
The other study by the Department of Psychology at the University of California gathered 20 heterosexual couples, gave them “stress” (unpleasant electric shocks) events, and measured their brain activity. These scientists found that women’s brains showed reduced stress when holding their partner’s arms while their partners received the “stress.” This implication demonstrated that providing physical support is also beneficial for stress-reducing effects.
Hugs protect from illness and improve health
A study conducted by a group from the Department of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University found that hugs provide stress-buffering support against infectious disease situations. They used a sample of 400 adults and measured their stress reaction to disease-infectious situations. Their data suggest that participants who received more frequent hugs predicted less severe illness signs.
Another study by the Department of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that warm physical contact from a cohabitating couple is related to lower cardiovascular reactivity. Prior to the stress event, the “warm contact” group underwent a 10-minute handholding period while viewing a romantic video, followed by a 20-second hug with their partner. The control group only rested quietly for 10 minutes and 20 seconds. Their finding suggested that affectionate and warm physical touch contributed to lower reactivity to stress and better cardiovascular health.
Reading all the scientific findings associated with hugs made us wonder if our soulmates’ magic touch could be incorporated into a restorative space described in one of WELL’s features.
“Support access to space that promotes restoration and relief from mental fatigue or stress.” — WELL M07, Restorative Spaces.
On Let’s Hug Day, we dedicate the cards to all romantic partners and wish they all find “the” relaxed and affectionate space close to their workstations.
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By the way, according to this WELL standard, the therapeutic space has to meet the following requirements:
- Space could be indoor or outdoor.
- Space may serve multiple functions but not be used for work.
- Minimum size of 75 square feet plus one sf per occupant, and no more than 2000 sf.
- Provides a calming and comfortable environment with features such as: adjustable lighting, sound interventions, thermal control, natural elements, subdued colors, textures or forms, and visual privacy.
References:
- Gesa Berretz, Romantic partner embraces reduce cortisol release after acute stress induction in women but not in men (PLOS ONE, 2022)
- Julian Packheiser, The physical and mental health benefits of touch intervention: A comparative systematic review and multivariate meta-analysis (Researchgate, 2023)
- Karen M.Grewen, Warm partner contact is related to lower cardiovascular reactivity (Behavioral Medicine, 2003)
