Throughout the years of your life, you have probably heard that hugging each other relived stress and somehow helped reduce the symptoms of an infection. The question is if this statement is actually true, or if it is just some old wives tale told throughout the years. This question was tackled by a team from the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences who was lead by Sheldon Cohen who is a University Professor of Psychology in CMU's. With this question in mind researchers found that greater social support from people you know and trust can protect agains the increased susceptibility of infections that can harm you and resulted in less severe symptoms also causing less stress. In order to test this theory farther Cohen decided to do a social experiment. People dealing with ongoing conflict are less likely to fight disease and people receiving more social support are less likely to develop anxiety and depression. Based on this information Cohen brought forth 404 healthy adults in order to test his theory. Each one of them were assessed by a questionnaire and the frequencies of interpersonal conflicts and receiving hugs were derived from telephone interviews conducted on 14 consecutive nights. After this the test participants were each intentionally exposed to the common cold virus and monitored in a quarantined situation to assess the signs of the sickness that they were shown to. The results that were shown were astounding, the people with perceived support reduced the risk of infection. What is even more surprising is that hugs accounted for 1/3 of that perceived support. With all of this information brought forward Cohen came to the conclusion that being hugged by a trusted person can somewhat protect you from the harmful effects of an infection. This shows what has already been know, the less stress that you put on yourself, the more likely you are to stay away from infection. Strange that something as easy as a hug can help keep you healthy.
Works Cited:
Article - Carnegie Mellon University. "Hugs help protect against stress, infection, say researchers." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 17 December 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141217101316.htm>.
Picture- Pelaez, Jose Luis. "Mother and Daughter Hugging." GettyImages. Getty Images,
n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2014. <http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/
mother-and-daughter-hugging-high-res-stock-photography/103051648>.
Good job! Now i understand why people always say "do you need a hug" when you're sad. I never knew that their was scientific reason as to why this makes people happier, I just thought a hug makes someone know that they're are cared about. I feel like holding hands with someone would have somewhat the same effect.
ReplyDeleteThat hugging does have a scientific reason behind it and helps people relieve from stress and sad times was something that was unknown to me. So now I know that when someone is sad or if I am sad, a hug can definitely serve the purpose!!
ReplyDeleteI think this article is interesting because it provides evidence for something that sounds like a mere groundless rumor. I'd like to know more about the specifics behind this study, however- such as the (possibly) hormonal and chemical changes in the body that lead from a hug to reduced stress/risk of infection.
ReplyDeleteThe Science Of Hugs! This is really interesting Sanchit! I believe its not only hugs but love itself. I think you're telling people to socialize and when you don't, you fall sick(not all the time!). A man can go sick without company though.
ReplyDeleteNice one Sanchit!