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- Title
Do Hugs and Their Constituent Components Reduce Self-Reported Anxiety, Stress, and Negative Affect?
- Authors
Koshar, Preman; Knowles, Megan L.
- Abstract
Past research has suggested that touch and pressure can have antidepressant and anxiolytic properties. The present investigation hypothesized that brief interventions of hugging and its constituent components (pressure and the presence of a friend) during a stressful situation would reduce anxiety, social anxiety, stress, and negative affect while increasing social support, relative to control condition. Undergraduate participants (n= 155) completed the Trier Social Stress Test while either receiving hugs from a friend (hug), having a friend nearby (friend), wearing a weighted pressure vest (vest), or having nothing added (control). There was no significant effect of condition on state measures of anxiety (η²p = .01, p= .79), social anxiety (η²p = .01, p = .70), stress (f²p = .02, p= .58), negative affect (η²p = .01, p= .77), or social support (η²p = .03, p = .22). These findings suggest that brief interv entions with hugs, weighted pressure vests, or the presence of a friend are not effective at increasing social support nor at reducing anxiety, social anxiety, stress, or negative affect. Alternative explanations for these results are discussed.
- Subjects
HUGGING; SOCIAL anxiety; ANXIETY; SOCIAL support
- Publication
Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research, 2020, Vol 25, Issue 2, p181
- ISSN
2164-8204
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.24839/2325-7342.jn25.2.181