World Smile Day: Hugging makes you feel better, hug someone to be cheerful and happy

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What can be a better way than hugging someone to reduce your stress and smile instantly?

Yes, a study suggests that just reaching out and touching someone with his/her permission can lessen bad emotions associated with the typical ups and downs of our social interactions.

According to a new study from the Department of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, published in PLOS ONE, looked at the social interactions of more than 400 people over two weeks.

The sum up of their daily activities, physical interactions, moods, and doldrums revealed a causal link between emotional states, conflicts and the number of hugs a person gave or received.

"Results indicated that there was an interaction between hug receipt and conflict exposure such that receiving a hug was associated with a smaller conflict-related decrease in positive affect and a smaller conflict-related increase in negative affect when assessed concurrently," the study reads.

In plain words, the act of hugging someone after a minor conflict or an arguement that took place during the day, makes you feel less miserable.

The interesting fact about the study is that the positive effect of hugging was seen across all genders and ages. Although women reported more hugs than men.

"Our results are consistent with the conclusion that both men and women may benefit equally from being hugged on days when conflict occurs," the study reads.

The study was authored by Michael Murphy, a postdoctoral research associate at the Department of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon. In the study, he says the research could be improved upon by pinpointing exactly what kind of social relationships were involved in a hug -a stranger or someone you were arguing with, for example, as opposed to a lover or an all-healing embrace from Mom.

"The lack of specificity regarding from whom individuals received hugs also restricted our ability to identify whether hugs from specific types of social partners were more effective than those from others," Murphy wrote.

Well, even without knowing if the hugging-person was in a romantic relationship at the time of said hug, the mood-related benefits were still there as per the findings. So, there doesn't seem to be a downside to consensual hugging.

(CNN Inputs)

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