BWhether it’s a short squeeze or a bone-crushing bear hug, few can deny the comfort of a goodbye hug from a person you love. Yet bosses decided to a three minute limit on hugs in the airport’s drop-off zone.
Passengers wishing to partake in a longer and fond farewell were instructed to use the car park instead.
In contrast, Heathrow has told passengers to take as much time as they need to say goodbye to loved ones on departure.
New signage in the airport’s departure area shows two people hugging, with the words “Max hug time, unlimited. Fond farewell on departure, encouraged”.
That’s fortunate, because hugs offer a variety of physical and psychological benefits, experts say.
Humans are not the only creature that indulges in huggable behavior; many monkeys and apes comb each other’s fur, and it is likely that human hugs evolved as an extension of this. “The basic method of social bonding to create relationships is through physical touch,” says Prof Robin Dunbar, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of Oxford and author of The Social Brain.
“What’s going on beneath the surface is the triggering of a highly specialized neural system in the skin that responds to a very specific stimulation – light, slow stroking at a rate of 3cm per second, which is the speed of hand movements through the fur, or over the skin – and it activates the endorphin system in the brain, which makes you feel calm and relaxed.”
While the release of endorphins helps build and maintain close relationships, the benefits of hugs also extend to other areas of health and well-being.
“Many of us know that receiving a hug feels good, but we don’t often stop and think about the other positive effects of hugs,” says Prof Michael Banissy, a social neuroscientist at the University of Bristol and the author from When We Touch.
For starters, hugs can affect our immune responses. In one studyresearchers at Carnegie Mellon University in the US found a correlation between how often people hugged and their ability to fight colds. Those who received frequent hugs in the 14 days before being exposed to a common cold virus were less likely to become infected, and experienced less severe symptoms if they did, compared to non-huggers.
Another study found that women who hugged their partner before undergoing a stressful experience had a lower biological stress response, as measured by levels of the stress hormone cortisol, compared to those who did not receive a hug.
“In the context of going to an airport and taking a flight, you can see how hugs can be beneficial in terms of managing people’s anxiety or stress levels,” says Banissy. “The three-minute thing is interesting because technically the hormones that play a role in modulating these effects can be released within a few minutes, so that might be enough to get the benefit.”
Banissy adds: “On the other hand, we know that touch and hugs are very much influenced by context; touch should be sought after and feel appropriate, so you can imagine that if hugs feel unnatural for any reason, you’re not going to get the same level of benefit. There’s a bit of a risk in putting a time limit on it, that people might feel a bit uptight about it – although I’m told they’re not going to have a hug police.
A guide to hugs
Quick print
The most common type of hug is what psychologists refer to as a “cross hug,” where the huggers’ arms are crossed over each other’s shoulders and waist. The duration matters. Although some people may prefer a slightly longer or a shorter hug, when Banissy and his colleagues at the University of Bristol studied how pleasant and controlled hugs lasting one, five or 10 seconds felt, they found that hugs lasting one second were consistently rated as the least pleasant. “If it’s too short, people might not necessarily feel the benefits in terms of emotional closeness and things like that, but equally, if it’s too long, it can start to feel awkward,” says Banissy. “Five to ten seconds seems to be optimal.”
Engulfing hug
When you’re feeling down or have received terrible news, an enveloping hug can provide comfort and emotional support. “It tends to be limited to emotional scenarios, as it can feel too intimate in other settings,” says Banissy. “This is where someone literally wraps their arms around you and effectively engulfs you, bringing you very close.”
Bear hug
While the engulfing hug typically pulls the recipient in from behind, the bear hug is more of a random grab and tight squeeze. The purpose and the emotion behind the hug also differ: “Bear hugs are often a celebratory thing, such as a family reunion, or the recognition of an achievement of some kind, while the engulfing hug is much more supportive and tender,” said Banissy.
Sporty shoulder press
Physical gestures are a common feature of team sports, including the sideways semi-hug, semi-shoulder bump. While the cynic might read this as an attempt to avoid contamination with the other person’s sweat, research suggests that these positive physical gestures still matter. Banissy says: “If you look at how often team members engage in positive touch, which includes hugs, but also things like fist bumps and high fives, you find that teams that do it more often early in the season then often go on to win more games . There’s kind of a connection with this and their team cohesion.”
World leader hug
Hugging in professional settings can feel awkward, perhaps even more so when the world is watching and scrutinizing your intentions. So, no wonder politicians look so uncomfortable doing it. Although there is little research on how hugs affect professional transactions, “we know that other forms of touch in professional settings set the stage for things like collaboration and trust,” says Banissy. “For example, people who do more handshakes before negotiating business deals are more likely to come to joint agreements, or find outcomes that are mutually beneficial. Touch plays a very important role in that space.”
Dunbar says we should view hugs as opening offers to establish the nature of relationships, and only do what feels natural or instinctive. “There are certainly mistakes where we overbid or underbid relative to the other person, but my advice is to turn off the brain and let the body take over.”
Self hug
Receiving a hug before a stressful event can help soften its emotional impact, but what if you don’t have someone to hug? Happy, research suggests that placing your own hands over your heart or stomach, or caressing the skin of your upper arms, seems to have a similar effect.
When scientists at Goethe University in Germany compared the impact of this self-soothing gestures upon receiving a hug from someone else, they found that both groups released lower amounts of the stress hormone cortisol in response to a stressful situation, compared to a control group.
