Feelings determine the side we embrace people on

Hugging is one of the most common ways we have of expressing our emotions to other people. But on what side do we usually give it? Is there a preference for right or left? And if there is, why is it? A team from the Ruhr University tried to find out.

To find out, they analyzed the hugs of more than 1,200 couples at an airport, both when they said goodbye to catch a flight and when they met again after their return. And the result was in the first case, most hugs were given on the left side, while in the second case they were given on the right side. This seemed to indicate that hugging on the left side could be linked to the negative and sad situations that a farewell generates and, doing it on the right side, with those of joy.

To confirm this, they analyzed a thousand other volunteers hugging a mannequin in three different scenarios: after hearing a sad story, after listening to a cheerful one, and a neutral one. And the results of the previous experiment seemed to confirm: People hugged more for the right in the second and third option, and more for the left in the first.

But there was one small exception. When the two people who had to hug each other were men. Then they hugged each other more on the left. What could that be due to? According to the study authors, many men still have certain prejudices when they are very affectionate with other men, and perhaps that is why their unconscious could identify this action as something negative.