A large-scale survey of adults in the UK shows that hugs are commonly remembered for comfort, support, and understanding, according to a study published October 28, 2026, in the open access journal PLOS One by Anna Lena Dueren of the University of Bristol, UK, and colleagues. Notably, individual differences in empathy, attachment patterns in relationships, body perception, and everyday hugging experiences were also related to the likelihood of remembering a hug for its positive emotional effect.
Hugs are an important form of social touch and have been associated with positive outcomes such as reduced stress and improved mood. Yet relatively little is known about the individual differences that affect how people remember hugs. In particular, it has been unclear whether empathy, body image, attachment patterns in close relationships, or everyday hugging experiences, influence the emotional value placed on hugs.
To fill this knowledge gap, Dueren and colleagues investigated whether hugs are generally remembered as emotionally salient experiences and whether individual differences are related to emotions linked to hugging. The researchers analyzed data from a survey of 15,049 healthy adults who were recruited in the UK through promotion on public broadcasting programs and other media. Overall, nearly 70% of participants remembered hugs for their positive emotional impact.
Specifically, the results showed that difficulty knowing how to hug and disliking hugging were negatively related to remembering a hug for its positive emotional value. The opposite pattern was observed for individuals who are more likely to greet family and friends by hugging. The researchers also found that higher scores on cognitive and emotional empathy measures were related to a higher likelihood of remembering a hug. People who tend to display a higher level of independence in relationships were less likely to remember a hug for its positive emotional value compared with individuals who tend to experience distress when facing separation. Participants with higher scores on the body-perception scale, which focuses on the connection between body awareness and touch, were more likely to remember a hug.
According to the authors, the findings may not generalize to people who live in societies with different attitudes toward physical contact and interpersonal distance. In addition, 75% of the study participants were women, and the study design does not allow for firm conclusions on causal relationships between traits, hugging experiences, and the formation of hug memories. Despite these limitations, the study provides an important overview of psychological factors that shape the meaning of social touch and extends current theoretical work by linking emotional touch to the formation of autobiographical memories.
The authors add: “We hope our findings will help explain why hugs are perceived differently from person to person. A next step would be to further investigate how personality, previous experiences, and the context in which a hug occurs shape its perception. Ultimately, this could help us better understand when and for whom hugging provides comfort and social support.”
Author interview: https://plos.io/4yMSNre
In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS One : https://plos.io/4B3p9PV
Citation: Dueren AL, Jenkinson PM, Vafeiadou A, Koukoutsakis A, Hammond C, Bowling NC, et al. (2026) Why we hug: Individual differences predict emotional touch memories. PLoS One 21(10): e0359868. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0359868
Author countries: UK.
Funding: MJB was supported by the ESRC [ES/R007527/1] and Leverhulme Trust [RF-2025-350]. The Touch Test was commissioned by the Wellcome Collection. AF’s time was supported by a European Research Council Consolidator Award [ERC-2018-COG-818070] and under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Consolidator grant agreement No 818070 for project METABODY). There was no additional external funding received for this study.
PLOS One
Survey
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Why we hug: Individual differences predict emotional touch memories
28-Oct-2026
MJB is author of When we Touch/ Touch Matters published by a commercial publisher. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS One policies on sharing data and materials.