<p class="title">Scientists have found that feelings play a key role in determining from which side we hug each other.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Hugs are part of social interactions between humans since birth. They express affection and love, and they occur in both positive and neutral contexts.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In emotionally charged situations, people tend to hug each other from the left side more often than in neutral contexts, said the researchers from the Ruhr-Universitat Bochum in Germany.</p>.<p class="bodytext">They observed that predictions about which hand will be on top during an embrace can be based on the participants' handedness and footedness.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We wanted to know if the hug-related behaviour is affected by the emotional context of the give situation," said Julian Packheiser, from the Ruhr-Universitat Bochum.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Moreover, we wanted to find out if motor characteristics such as handedness determine the lateralisation of the embrace," Packheiser.</p>.<p class="bodytext">For the study published in the journal Psychological Research, the researchers studied more than 2,500 hugs.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In order to study neutral embraces, the researchers analysed 500 clips of actors who offered blindfolded hugs to strangers in the street.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Consistent with older studies, the researchers determined that most people show a preference for right-sided hugs.</p>.<p class="bodytext">At the same time, it emerged that left-sided hugs occur more frequently in positive as well as negative situations.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"This is because of the influence of the right hemisphere, which controls the left side of the body and processes both positive and negative emotions," said Packheiser.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"When people hug, emotional and motor networks in the brain interact and cause a stronger drift to the left in emotional contexts," Packheiser said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">To investigate the influence of handedness and footedness, the researchers subsequently asked 120 test participants to hug a mannequin after listening to various positive, negative and neutral short stories via headphones.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Right-handed people tend to hug the other person from the right side, much more often than left-handed people, Packheiser said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Our interpretation is that many men consider embraces between men to be something negative; therefore, they tend to perceive hugs as negative even in a neutral situation, such as saying hello," said Sebastian Ocklenburg, from the Ruhr- University Bochum.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Accordingly, the right hemisphere is activated due to negative emotions and affects the motion to the left, he said.</p>
<p class="title">Scientists have found that feelings play a key role in determining from which side we hug each other.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Hugs are part of social interactions between humans since birth. They express affection and love, and they occur in both positive and neutral contexts.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In emotionally charged situations, people tend to hug each other from the left side more often than in neutral contexts, said the researchers from the Ruhr-Universitat Bochum in Germany.</p>.<p class="bodytext">They observed that predictions about which hand will be on top during an embrace can be based on the participants' handedness and footedness.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We wanted to know if the hug-related behaviour is affected by the emotional context of the give situation," said Julian Packheiser, from the Ruhr-Universitat Bochum.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Moreover, we wanted to find out if motor characteristics such as handedness determine the lateralisation of the embrace," Packheiser.</p>.<p class="bodytext">For the study published in the journal Psychological Research, the researchers studied more than 2,500 hugs.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In order to study neutral embraces, the researchers analysed 500 clips of actors who offered blindfolded hugs to strangers in the street.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Consistent with older studies, the researchers determined that most people show a preference for right-sided hugs.</p>.<p class="bodytext">At the same time, it emerged that left-sided hugs occur more frequently in positive as well as negative situations.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"This is because of the influence of the right hemisphere, which controls the left side of the body and processes both positive and negative emotions," said Packheiser.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"When people hug, emotional and motor networks in the brain interact and cause a stronger drift to the left in emotional contexts," Packheiser said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">To investigate the influence of handedness and footedness, the researchers subsequently asked 120 test participants to hug a mannequin after listening to various positive, negative and neutral short stories via headphones.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Right-handed people tend to hug the other person from the right side, much more often than left-handed people, Packheiser said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Our interpretation is that many men consider embraces between men to be something negative; therefore, they tend to perceive hugs as negative even in a neutral situation, such as saying hello," said Sebastian Ocklenburg, from the Ruhr- University Bochum.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Accordingly, the right hemisphere is activated due to negative emotions and affects the motion to the left, he said.</p>