Research Shows That Hugs Help Protect Against Stress. Can Hugs Help You Fight a Cold?
I love Thursday nights. On Thursday nights I meet with the group of friends for a Current Events and Hot Topics Discussion Group. We have been meeting for many years so we greet each other with warm welcoming hugs. As I said I love those hugs. Below is the latest research on the health benefits of hugging.
I love Thursday nights. On Thursday nights I meet with the group of friends for a Current Events and Hot Topics Discussion Group. We have been meeting for many years so we greet each other with warm welcoming hugs. As I said I love those hugs. Below is the latest research on the health benefits of hugging.
When I taught body
language at Florida State my students called me Dr. Hugs (I had not gotten my
PHD) because after my lectures on the benefits of touch they might open up
their arms to give or get a hug from myself and fellow students. Today, I fear
I might get in trouble for encouraging warm, nonthreatening hugs on campus.
That’s a shame as recent research shows that hugs can be beneficial to our
health. My original doctoral dissertation was on touch, so I am always
searching for and reading the latest research on the benefits of touch and my
book SNAP Making the Most of First Impressions Body Language and Charisma Book
Website has a chapter on hugging and has more information on my Website.
Here is the latest
research on the health benefits of hugging.
Date: December
17, 2014
Source: Carnegie
Mellon University
Summary:
Researchers tested whether hugs act as
a form of social support, protecting stressed people from getting sick. They
found that greater social support and more frequent hugs protected people from
the increased susceptibility to infection associated with being stressed and
resulted in less severe illness symptoms.
Mother
hugging her daughter (stock image). Researchers found that greater social
support and more frequent hugs protected people from the increased
susceptibility to infection associated with being stressed and resulted in less
severe illness symptoms.
Credit:
© De Visu / Fotolia
Instead of an apple,
could a hug-a-day keep the doctor away? According to new research from Carnegie
Mellon University, that may not be that far-fetched of an idea.
Related Articles
Led
by Sheldon Cohen, the Robert E. Doherty University Professor of Psychology in
CMU's Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the researchers
tested whether hugs act as a form of social support, protecting stressed people
from getting sick. Published in Psychological Science, they found
that greater social support and more frequent hugs protected people from the
increased susceptibility to infection associated with being stressed and
resulted in less severe illness symptoms.
Cohen
and his team chose to study hugging as an example of social support because
hugs are typically a marker of having a more intimate and close relationship
with another person.
"We
know that people experiencing ongoing conflicts with others are less able to
fight off cold viruses. We also know that people who report having social
support are partly protected from the effects of stress on psychological
states, such as depression and anxiety," said Cohen. "We tested
whether perceptions of social support are equally effective in protecting us
from stress-induced susceptibility to infection and also whether receiving hugs
might partially account for those feelings of support and themselves protect a
person against infection."
In
404 healthy adults, perceived support was assessed by a questionnaire, and
frequencies of interpersonal conflicts and receiving hugs were derived from
telephone interviews conducted on 14 consecutive evenings. Then, the
participants were intentionally exposed to a common cold virus and monitored in
quarantine to assess infection and signs of illness.
The
results showed that perceived social support reduced the risk of infection
associated with experiencing conflicts. Hugs were responsible for one-third of
the protective effect of social support. Among infected participants, greater
perceived social support and more frequent hugs both resulted in less severe
illness symptoms whether or not they experienced conflicts.
"This
suggests that being hugged by a trusted person may act as an effective means of
conveying support and that increasing the frequency of hugs might be an
effective means of reducing the deleterious effects of stress," Cohen
said. "The apparent protective effect of hugs may be attributable to the
physical contact itself or to hugging being a behavioral indicator of support
and intimacy."
Cohen
added, "Either way, those who receive more hugs are somewhat more
protected from infection."
More articles on Hugs:
Story
Source:
The
above story is based on materials provided
by Carnegie Mellon University. The original
article was written by Shilo Rea. Note: Materials may be edited for
content and length.
Journal
Reference:
1. S. Cohen, D.
Janicki-Deverts, R. B. Turner, W. J. Doyle. Does Hugging Provide
Stress-Buffering Social Support? A Study of Susceptibility to Upper Respiratory
Infection and Illness. Psychological Science, 2014; DOI:10.1177/0956797614559284
Cite
This Page:
Carnegie
Mellon University. "Hugs help protect against stress, infection, say
researchers." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 17 December 2014.
.
