Cortisol Stress Hormones Reduced in Women Who Hug Partners Prior to Stressful Social Events

Women that are fond of hugging their partners prior to a stressful phase could lower their natural stress response, a study finds. Hugging could also reduce women's cortisol levels before any negative events compared to those who do not embrace their partners.

Benefits of Hugging

A new neurological investigation revealed that women who embrace their romantic partners experience lower biological stress than those who don't before stressful events. This particular response is measured through the stress hormone cortisol located in the saliva.

Despite the effect of hugging effective for stress, there were no indications that the benefit could exist in male subjects. The findings support previous theories in which the standard display of affections such as hand-holding, massages, and fruitful communications can cut signs of stress in women.

The research was led by scholars from Germany's Ruhr University Bochum. The observation was made possible through the help of 76 participants who are all engaged in romantic relationships.

Part of the experiments included stress-inducing activities that could moderately heighten stress in the brain of subjects. One of the tests was keeping one ice hand in an ice-water container for three minutes while the person stayed in position and maintained eye contact with a camera, reports Neuroscience News.

Before the stressful tests commenced, some subjects were required to embrace their partners, while others were not.

Throughout the observations, the authors monitored each of the biological stress signals of the participants, including their salivary cortisol levels. The rates were also compared before and after each of the sessions.

Women Embracing Partners Experience Less Stress

Findings show that women who hugged their partners had lower cortisol responses during the stress-induced tests than those who did not embrace their romantic counterparts. There were no changes or even associations between the hugging activity and the stress hormones in men.

Despite the cortisol fluctuations, experts observed no associations between the blood pressure and emotional response of the subjects when hugging their partners.

The authors conclude that a simple, short-term hug could improve the response and reduce the cortisol levels of women experiencing stressful, real-life social scenarios such as job interviews, academic exams, and professional presentations.

The experts said that the links between embracing and stress require further studies to find if the activity can produce positive effects between platonic friends.

The team also calls for contributing research regarding the association of stress with the COVID-19. According to the authors, these investigations might have a chance to elaborate on how socialization, reduction of touch, and the overall restrictions that people experience during the pandemic result in stress and depression.

The study was published in the journal PLOS One, titled "Romantic partner embraces reduce cortisol release after acute stress induction in women but not in men."

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