What do hugs mean to you?

Hugs can be very different in different situations – uh..that’s all I’m going to say…

I prefer only getting and giving hugs to close friends and family. It would be kind of weird if my boss came up to me and said “Good to see you! gives hug” I feel comfortable giving hugs to some of my coworkers, though… but a lot of them are like friends to me.

In my culture/lifestyle hugs are just a way of being friendly and acknowledging someone when they’re coming and going (saying hello or goodbye).

I’m not one for hugging someone who’s in a bad mood because I don’t know if the hug would be appropriate for the situation. I’d just wait until that person who is upset to initiate a hug. When I’m upset about something and someone tries to hug me, I never pull away but it always makes it worse.

Ah, but when someone gives exciting news, it’s always appropriate to hug and jump and congratulate. But the hugs still don’t make a difference in a situation like that. It’s just expressing excitement.

I strongly believe that hello and goodbye hugs have the most meaning to them.

I have always believed that hugs have different meanings. a five second hug is just a form of greeting. anything longer than five seconds normally carries a signal from one person to another. what is that signal? i will never tell.

I am not a major touchy feely kinda guy as my family just didn’t do the hug thing….but I remember the feeling of that hug my dad gave his then 20 year old son when his brother took his own life. That hug meant more to me than any other hug as it was the first one I remembered him ever giving me. We now hug each and every time we see each other and I am seriously overdue!

That human contact is crutially important. Hugs prompt the body to release endorphins and other hormones which not only make us feel better, but actually improve health. You might even say that “a hug a day keeps the doctor away!” : )

Hugs don’t mean very much to me unless they’re from specific people. Especially here in America, where it seems like people exchange hugs when they barely know each other.

Only from women, and they have to feel like women if you catch my… or my kids and siblings. But I don’t need hugs from guys or strangers. Sorry.

Okay Jake -I’ll make an exception when I come to Hawaii some day and hug you.

I once read a study many years ago that claimed that we all need eight hugs per day. My son gets a wild hair up his ass from time to time and holds a sign in school offering free hugs. Apparently he gets lots of takers.
I should add that I spontaneously hug people with alarming frequency.

@seazen : It will be the hug of aloha.

I pretty much like hugs from anybody. I like as many as I can get. I was voted “most huggable” in senior polls, after all. :D

When you feel sad a hug makes you feel better. It does me.

Hugs, in their proper contexts, are always good, and I could really use one about now… so thanks, @hawaii_jake . (I’m such a social retard…..)

I dislike human touch really. I don’t want you to touch me unless we are lovers. So if any of us meet I’d really like to just say hi and wave.

It depends on the person, on their intentions, and on my mood at the time.

Generally speaking I like to be cuddly and intimate with close friends, and a “hello hug” or a “goodbye hug” is fine, but a “sympathy hug” just makes me uncomfortable.

Hugmeez, pleeze! :¬)

I like hugs from pretty much anybody, unless I know their intent of the hug is more then a friendly gesture.

I’ve always been uncomfortable inviting hugs from acquaintances but once I have one then it feels great. I’m all about hugging my partner at home and if he feels he’s had a particularly rough day then I notice he wants extra cuddling/hugs so it must some kind of innate human therapy like @CaptainHarley writes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD6o49Uqv10

They’re an intimate way of greeting. There are different levels of intimacy, like hugs between family or not-so-close friends, and hugs between people who have close feelings like lovers or good friends. I love hugs, but only from people close to me, or from not-so-close friends that i actually like. No stranger had better try to hug me.
I don’t really like superficial hugs though, the ones that last a split second and seem to be over before they’ve even started, with hardly much real meaningful contact. They’re fake. I like real hugs and give real hugs.

The way the hug is given or received has different meanings.

Hugs mean that you care enough about me to let me invade
your personal boundary space….I am BIG on hugs!