Men are almost five times more likely than women to remember a hug because it felt arousing, research involving more than 15,000 adults suggests.
The study found that 3.9% of men associated an embrace with arousal, compared with 0.8% of women. Women were more likely to recall hugs as a source of comfort and emotional support.
Dr Anna Lena Dueren, the study’s first author from the University of Bristol, said: “We found that among participants who remembered a hug, men were more likely than women to describe it as arousing.”
The findings, published in the journal PLOS One, showed that positive emotions were the main reason people remembered being hugged. About 70% of participants recalled hugs because of their emotional impact, with comfort the most common response, followed by support, friendliness and happiness.
Researchers stressed that arousal remained relatively uncommon among those surveyed. Dr Dueren said: “Arousal was not a common experience associated with hugging overall, so this finding comes from a comparatively small group of participants.”
How people perceive hugging
People who regularly hugged friends and family were more likely to remember the experience positively, while those who felt uncomfortable with hugging or were uncertain how to embrace others were less likely to recall it fondly.
The researchers also found that people who were more aware of physical sensations and touch were more likely to remember hugs and attach positive emotions to them.
They suggested the difference between men and women could reflect the way interpersonal contact is interpreted. Women may more often view hugs as emotional support, while men may be more likely to perceive such interactions through a romantic or sexual lens.
“We hope our findings will help explain why hugs are perceived differently from person to person,” Dr Dueren said.
She added that further research could examine how personality, previous experiences and the circumstances surrounding a hug affect its meaning, and help identify when hugging provides comfort and social support.
Previous research cited in the study has suggested that the nature of a relationship also affects how long people hug, with romantic partners embracing for an average of 7.02 seconds compared with 2.88 seconds for platonic friends.
Other research has indicated that affection may have longer-lasting emotional effects. People who hugged after a conflict were found to be less likely to retain negative feelings in the hours and days that followed.
