We all love hugs and caresses, like going to a beauty center or massage. Although there have been historical periods in which societies had poor hygiene, our species has always been among those that spend the most time taking care of their bodies.
Pleasant sensations that we receive when we exchange attention of this type are, after all, gods reinforcing biological inputs which lead us to want to have the same experience again. However, is there any biological-evolutionary reason that can explain why we are so attracted to this type of behavior?
To understand the reasons behind this peculiar predilection of ours, we must go back in time a few million years. To do this, that’s actually enough study the behavior of our primate relatives, who, like us, deeply love exchanging caresses and niceties.
For example, observing a group of chimpanzees or gorillas, we would discover that much of the time they do not dedicate to searching for food is spent picking among themselves. This behavior is defined in jargon groomingis also observable in other species and is not only used to eliminate parasites.
Grooming is in fact used by primates to strengthen or form new social relationships, but also just for reduce anxiety and feel safer and more protected.
This is a form of non-verbal language, in which those who practice the caresses declare that they love or want to make peace with the other specimens.
Scientists also pointed out that often grooming has no reproductive purposes and that over the course of evolution, emotional responses have appeared, which make the person who receives the caresses feel satisfied by receiving them. Furthermore, thanks to the evolution of mirror neuronseven the person doing the caresses or massages can relax or feel satisfied in what they are doing, further developing an empathy that significantly lowers collective aggression.
Later, as our species began to shed fur and develop greater manipulative abilities, our bare skin became even more sensitive to the touch of other people. A condition that has led our brain to send a greater number of nerve impulses to the center of pleasure, when we are hugged, touched or simply caressed.
Paradoxically, we have also become better at interpreting what we are watching and this is why we tend to relax even when we see two people tenderly caressing each other, whether they are a mother with her baby or an ASMR massage video on Youtube.
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