Hugging & stress hormones have an unexpected connection

We hug others when we are excited, happy, sad, or when we are trying to comfort them. Hugging seems to be universally comforting. It makes us feel good. Hugging also appears to be linked to mental health and happiness.

According to scientists, the benefits of hugging go beyond that warm feeling you get when you hold someone in your arms. When a friend or family member is going through something painful or unpleasant in their life, we hug them. Researchers also suggest that supporting another person with a hug can reduce the anxiety of the person being comforted. It can even reduce the stress of the person that gives comfort.

So can you remember the last time you felt really stressed? What helped you calm down?

There are various strategies that people can use to reduce stress – for example, it can be helpful to talk to someone. Additionally, touch has been shown to reduce stress, just like a nice massage.

A new German study, recently published in the academic journal PLoS ONE (Berretz et al., 2022), investigated the effects of another common form of social touch on anxiety: hugging.

In the study, researchers invited couples into their lab and randomly assigned them to one of two conditions. In the experimental condition, partners were allowed to cuddle for 20 seconds before being exposed to a stress test. In the control condition, participants were exposed to the same stressful test, without being allowed to hug before.

In both conditions, the scientists measured the volunteers' cortisol levels, as cortisol is the most important stress hormone in humans. In addition, the volunteers filled out a questionnaire about their feelings during the experiment and had their blood pressure measured.

What were the results of the study?

The researchers first checked the couples’ relationship satisfaction and found it at high levels. Specifically, there were no differences in relationship satisfaction between the experimental and control groups that could have influenced the results.

As a second step, scientists analyzed the volunteers' cortisol levels. It was found that 15 minutes and 25 minutes after the test the cortisol levels were higher than before the test. This indicates that the test successfully induced stress in the volunteers.

Interestingly, men showed significantly higher cortisol release than women, prompting the scientists to include gender in further analyses. The comparison between the experimental condition that included a 20-second hug and the control condition without a hug revealed a surprising result. Hugging reduced cortisol levels, but only in women. Cuddling did not affect blood pressure and emotion questionnaire results.

Thus, the study findings suggest that in women, hugging their partner before a stressful situation (such as a job interview or a presentation) may be an effective way to reduce stress on a biological level.

Journal Reference:

Berretz G, Cebula C, Wortelmann BM, Papadopoulou P, Wolf OT, Ocklenburg S, Packheiser J. (2022). Romantic partner embraces reduce cortisol release after acute stress induction in women but not in men. PLoS One, 17, e0266887.