what others have to say. I'd never hug anyone having just met them. It wouldn't matter if they are the opposite sex or not. I don't even hug people I know well except now and then. Other people have no problem hugging EVERYONE.
Well, maybe I just made someone very happy today.....
He just seemed to linger a bit....I don't mind, I know not everyone likes to be hugged. I'm a bit of a hugger, but I'm thinking maybe it was a little too much....:)!
Don't move to my town, madalice! I get hugged by a stranger nearly every time I go out. I won't go shopping without my husband. If he steps away for a second I find some other guys arms wrapped around me. Not cool.
I agree hugging varies with region & country. Southerners in general are huggers, not so much in the Northeast. Makes it a bit difficult to decipher the intentions. Usually though, a full frontal hug with bodies touching is as intimate as a slow dance.
I'm single I've been dating mostly non-member women but a few members as well. 80% seem to offer a hug after a first date it varies widly in intrensity, maybe 20% throw in a brief kiss and a few are ready for more than that. Your game improves with experience as you learn to sense your way into the interplay.
Some people are comfortable and happy being huggy. Others are not. I wouldn't look too much into it. If anything, I'd bet there are people who want to hug, but don't, because they're concerned others may read too much into it.
As with handshakes, I'll follow their lead and oblige.
I hug just about everybody, but only if the other person is open to it. In my circle of friends, most of us are huggers and the friends/partners/lovers they bring to our get togethers are usually huggers, too. So it often happens that I hug somebody when I first meet him or her.
Ha! You've never hugged my uncle B. He will put you into a full frontal bear hug and flatten you against his chest. He will then hold that pose long past the comfort zone. It's creepy. He's creepy. Just another dirty old man copping a feel.
Then there's my son in laws sister. She's a very huggy person. I think she's starving for human touch. She's single, and in her 30's. She has to hug everyone in the room several times in a two or three hour span. It gets to the point where I want to run when I see her coming. I've never seen her in a room with single men, so i'm not sure how she handles that. She's very pretty, very well endowed, but a bit mental. I'm sure there are guys out there that wouldn't mind hugging her, a lot. Nevermind she's had a very sheltered (catholic)life.
In general, men should wait for the woman to initiate a hug.
If you don't know someone well, you should lean in so that only your shoulders touch and it would be brief.
Only if you really know someone well do you hold tighter and longer. This is family and close friends.
And let's not kid ourselves, we all know when someone is going too far for the wrong reasons. But sometimes just the right amount of wrong is just what the doctor ordered. :)
If you get a sudden knee to the groin, remove your hand from her butt immediately.
I give enthusiastic hugs to everyone. Unfortunately, in my experience, almost every man I hug like this takes it as a sign I want a romantic relationship. I don't. I'm just making a friendly, platonic connection with you. I should probably stop doing this as it leads to awkward and annoying situations, but I always forget that because I'm a hugger. :/
My observation around Mormons is that they all are hand shakers, everytime you turn around someone would shake my hand. the only one that was different was my molly girl friend, we 'd hug, we fit well together.
I heard there are studies that people who receive hugs frequently have longer life spans and better health than those who do not. I wish I had a few more hugs.
There is no rule. Sometimes a hug is a hug. Sometimes its culture. Sometimes its because two people feel attracted to each other. If you want to know if it means more, do the hug and then go in for kiss. You will know!
You know, there is no blanket generalization in the world that answers that question. People give hugs for countless reasons all having to do with whomever you ask. If you want to know what that person meant when they hugged you , you need to ask them.