Cuddling In Science

Cuddling, we've all done it and if you proclaim that you haven’t, well then you’re just a liar. Recently, I have taken on quite the fascination with this social experience. Why do we hug one another when we're sleeping, for hours at a time? We definitely don’t hug one another that much when we're awake. A further question is; why do some enjoy this experience more than others? So I asked a few men and women their views on the subject.

“I don’t cuddle,” says Lisa Roberts, a 23-year-old dance teacher from Long Island, NY. “If I have to I will be the big spoon. This way I can throw one arm over the person to give the effect as if I was cuddling, but really, I’m not.” In cuddling culture, the “big spoon” is the individual who hugs the person from the outside, while the “little spoon” is the individual being hugged. This is usually a butt to stomach position. Others cuddle facing one another, but this position makes it more difficult to breathe, therefore it is less popular. Maybe some also cuddle in 69 position, but I wouldn’t know. I later asked whether or not Lisa’s previous partners were “cuddlers.” They weren't. Is lack of interest in cuddling a coincidence? I don’t think so.

  “Cuddling is more important than sex,” confessed a friend of mine recently who doesn’t wish to disclose his information due to fear of embarrassment. “If my girlfriend and I don’t have sex for a month, I don’t give it much thought. But if a night goes by where there’s lack of cuddling… I’m not having it.” Cuddling more important than sex? It is nice to know there are people out there who believe that, however strange they may be.

Through my recent research I have found that 78 percent of men and women find cuddling to be very important in a relationship. As for the other 22 percent, well the thought of someone touching them while asleep is unnerving.

One of my girl friends used to punch men in her sleep. Literally, if they even dared to put their hand on her shoulder in the middle of the night they were being punched full force. Maybe people should ask for permission to do these things, rather than going ahead and doing them.

Over the weekend I went on vacation with Lisa, the girl that I mentioned above. She is a childhood friend and our relationship is plutonic. Embarrassingly enough, one night while on vacation I threw my arm around her and went in for a cuddle. I think I forgot who I was laying next to… oops. Afraid to offend me or interrupt my sleep, she did not object. Instead she made fun of me for the remainder of the weekend. This is how some respond to the experience. Luckily, I wasn’t punched.