A study shows that holding hands with a loved one is really good for your health.
Why is it that when we're upset, stressed, or scared we instinctively reach for our partner's hand? Or conversely, why is it that we always seem to reach for our partner's hand to comfort them when they're upset? Well a recent study by University of Virginia psychologist, Dr. James Coan, showed that the answer doesn't lie between our fingers, but in our brains. The study involved subjecting 16 happily-married women to stressful situations while monitoring their brain activity. The results showed less activity in the stress-related areas of the women's brains even while holding a stranger's hand, and a whole lot less when they held their hubby's hand.
Read what three men have to say about guys who say they don't like cuddling and holding hands.
Em and Lo's Wise Guys column—a regular feature asking three guys a sex/dating question—tackled hand holding, cuddling and the men who claim they don't like doing either this week. A worried reader wanted to know if a cuddle-phobic man she recently started dating is as he says or (those dreaded words) "just not that into me." The straight married guys says get rid of him, the married gay man says it's no biggie and the single guy says to look for other signs of he's not interested.
Think hand holding is the purest act this side of abstinence? Think again.
A team of researchers at the University of Colorado took bacteria samples from 102 hands, and found a combined number of 4, 737 unique strands of bacteria. Women had more than men, which may mean hand holding is a risky, bacteria laden event for all the gentleman out there.
Displays of affection don't need to be lovey-dovey or sappy.
All that couple-y, romantic stuff left this writer cold. But then one Valentine's Day. something shifted. Audrey Ference explains how she went from skeptic to romantic without losing her street cred.
