Talk:Hug

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Nonsense in cuddling section

"In 2014, British sociologists Eric Anderson and Mark McCormack published a study which shows that 93% of British heterosexuals student-athletes had spooned or cuddled with a male friend, as a sign of friendship."

That can't be true. There's no way such a high number of people in Britain are gay, (even if they oddly claim to be straight). It looks like propaganda and should be removed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Griefslams (talk • contribs) 10:18, 26 August 2017 (UTC)

Is Hugging really universal among all communities?

The lead of this article states that Hugging is universal in human communities while a sentence below in the Characteristics section states "Unlike some other types of physical contact, a hug can be practiced publicly and privately without stigma in many countries, religions and cultures, within families, and also across age and gender lines". However, I'm not entirely sure I agree with either of those statements especially the second one, because hugging of the opposite sex in Islamic countries (especially in most of the conservative Arab nations) would definitely be stigmatised publically unless it was between members of the same family. I also doubt hugging is very common in conservative Hindu/Buddhist cultures and in some of the East Asian countries (e.g. China and Japan) unless it was between people who know each other well. Maybe privately it would be practiced without any stigma but definitely not publically so I would suggest rewording those bits or maybe giving more information on cultures where hugging is stigmatised (like the example I've given for Islam cultures and the East Asian countries). I might do it myself later if I get time although I would be grateful if anyone else can do it before I do. Does anyone else agree with this? Broman178 (talk) 19:58, 29 May 2021 (UTC)

Update: 4 years on, I have since made many changes to this article, especially to the Characteristics section and Cultural aspects section. I have given mention that hugging on a whole, while prevalent in many parts of the world, is variable across some countries and different religions, cultures and gender lines. I have also mentioned that it is uncommon or less frequent among opposite genders in conservative Islamic communities and also in some East, Southeast and South Asian countries with a few sourced examples. Broman178 (talk) 08:52, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

other species

Seems from this article that hugging and cuddling is unique to humans, though it seems to me that other ape species also hug, and cuddling occurs in many species and between species. Exjerusalemite (talk) 17:14, 18 September 2023 (UTC)

Explanation of my recent edit removing the last paragraph of "Cultural Aspects"

This one: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hug&diff=1183403528&oldid=1183165424&variant=en

The issue about this paragraph is it does not represent entire India's culture, not even South India. I live in Tamil Nadu, a state nearby Kerela where the "culture" is similar. It is highly unlikely for something like this to happen in a well developed city like Banglore. Currently hugging between opposite genders is an accepted thing in many schools, and there are many schools that don't allow it. You can't generalise based on one story. Outside schools, in the urban areas, nobody would care if two people of opposite gender hug each other. However, in the rural areas, two people of opposite gender hugging is not a common thing. If they see two outsiders in their village of the opposit gender hugging each other, they probably wouldn't care. But if it was someone they knew, it is not welcome. I have seen and heard many stories of what happened to such people and I don't want to bore you with the details (however if you want to know, just reply) but that doesn't mean it is the right thing over there. All started due to the degeneracy and ignorance of shallow and narrow minded people and that need not be discussed in an educational site like Wikipedia.

For additional context: https://youtube.com/watch?v=EpCUmJM89fk ShobanChiddarth (talk) 02:43, 4 November 2023 (UTC)

"Romantic partner embraces reduce cortisol release after acute stress induction in women but not in men."

I'm sure that this sentence isn't accurate; there are men who definitely don't fit this definition. JacktheBrown (talk) 15:12, 8 February 2025 (UTC)