Quickie: The Real Reason Your Partner Won’t Hug You

Sometimes an embrace isn’t all that comforting

You have a rough day ahead and you’re stressed out. Maybe you have an interview for a dream job and you’re worried you won’t land it. Maybe you have a doctor’s appointment that has you on edge. Maybe you’re just generally feeling anxious about tackling the day. Whatever the case, your partner gives you a hug and your stress seems to just melt away as you feel their arms around you.

Sounds like the perfect way to feel better in the face of stress, right?

Not necessarily.

“As a woman, hugging your romantic partner can prevent the acute stress response of your body.”

According to a study published in PLOS ONE, this scenario only works for women because during times of stress, women’s bodies experience a cortisol response — which is associated with stress — that is much lower when they receive a hug than when they don’t.

“As a woman, hugging your romantic partner can prevent the acute stress response of your body,” researchers explained.

The same cannot be said for men, however. During their research, study authors measured the stress levels of 76 people in romantic relationships, and then had them hug each other before putting one of their hands in an ice bath for three minutes while maintaining eye contact with a camera. After the exercise, participants’ stress responses were measured again by looking at the amount of cortisol present in their saliva, taking their blood pressure, and determining their emotional state. The results showed that women who received a hug had lower stress hormones in their bodies after the ice bath than the ones who did not. On the other hand, receiving a hug had no effect on the men in the study whatsoever.

I guess the good news is, the men’s stress didn’t go up after hugging their partners. But it might explain the times men don’t feel like receiving an embrace.

Researchers say to learn more about this topic, studies can be done to find out the physiological responses that occur when people hug their platonic friends.

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Source:

Women who embraced their partner subsequently had lower stress-induced cortisol response. EurekAlert. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/952368