The Healing Power Of Touch Confirmed Again!

Hugging can protect against the harmful mood changes that occur with relationship conflict according to a new study.

Receiving hugs may buffer against deleterious changes in mood associated with interpersonal conflict, according to a study published October 3rd in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Michael Murphy of Carnegie Mellon University, along with co-authors Denise Janicki-Deverts and Sheldon Cohen.

When we engage more often in touching others, we benefit by enjoying enhanced  physical and psychological health and improved relationships.  Scientists suggest that interpersonal touch benefits our well-being by helping to buffer against the harmful consequences of psychological stress, and touch might be a particularly effective buffer of interpersonal conflict.

This possibility holds great promise for health and well-being because conflicts with others are associated with a large range of deleterious psychological and physical outcomes. However, preceding  research on this topic have largely focused on the role of touch in romantic relationships.

In the new study, Murphy and colleagues focused on hugs — a relatively common support behavior that individuals engage in with a wide range of social partners. The researchers interviewed 404 adult men and women every night for 14 consecutive days about their conflicts, hug receipt, and positive and negative moods. Receiving a hug on the day of conflict was concurrently associated with a smaller decrease in positive emotions and a smaller increase in negative emotions. The effects of hugs may have lingered too, as interviewees reported a continued attenuation of negative mood the next day.

These results are consistent with the hypothesis that hugs buffer against deleterious changes in affect associated with experiencing interpersonal conflict. The findings from the large community sample suggest that hugs may be a simple yet effective method of providing support to both men and women experiencing interpersonal distress.

Murphy notes: “This research is in its early stages. We still have questions about when, how, and for whom hugs are most helpful. However, our study suggests that consensual hugs might be useful for showing support to somebody enduring relationship conflict.”

Source:

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/p-hmh092618.php

Murphy MLM, Janicki-Deverts D, Cohen S (2018) Receiving a hug is associated with the attenuation of negative mood that occurs on days with interpersonal conflict. PLoS ONE 13(10): e0203522. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203522

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0203522