Culture

Swedes Love Hugging: study

by Rob Peters | November 30, 2007 at 12:52 pm

1478 views | 2 Recommendations | 10 comments

I feel the study would have been better if they compared different countries in an international hug-off. This is still pretty good though.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - While Swedes have a reputation of being reserved, a new study shows they'll hug just about anyone except their boss.

Nine out of 10 Swedes embrace somebody at least once a week, with women aged 30-44 being the most active huggers, according to the study presented Thursday by the Swedish Red Cross.

About 70 per cent of the 1,036 people interviewed between Nov. 5-8 said they had hugged their partner or spouse that week, while 59 per cent said they had hugged a friend or acquaintance.

One-quarter had hugged a work colleague of the same sex, while 14 per cent had embraced a co-worker of the opposite gender.

Only four per cent hugged their boss.

The study by the Synovate polling institute also found that there is a certain etiquette to Swedish hugging traditions.

More than 80 per cent said it was appropriate to hug a person in mourning, while 55 per cent said they would hug a stranger who had just found their wallet.

Sixty per cent said hugging a vague acquaintance at a party was not OK.

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trizzay

at 14:55 on November 30th, 2007

Switzerland's Jubaira Bachmann squeezing her little niece during her visit to Los Angeles.

cynthia yoo

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 15:10 on November 30th, 2007

Rob Peters a.k.a. hug-a-lot csorcerer!

angreat

at 15:42 on November 30th, 2007

this ones a good hug, too!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55312730@N00/147220980/in/set-72057594136034327/

Rissifish

at 03:06 on December 1st, 2007

Americans love hugging too!

ArwenUndomiel

at 04:51 on December 1st, 2007

Good for the Swedes! :-) I can`t imagine a day without hugs. I seriously believe if people gave out & received more hugs everyday, we`d all be a little happier.

Jordan Yerman

at 06:14 on December 1st, 2007

Yup. So much of our mass culture, it seems, is an attempt to replace the feeling one gets from such a simple act.

jaclynbailey

at 07:02 on December 1st, 2007

Angie and Carole have known each other for a long time, but due to life had not seen each other in several years. I envited them both to the babyshower for my baby, Aeddon. When they saw each other for the first time they hugged because they needed to!