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一个拥抱往往只有几秒钟，为什么有的拥抱却能让人记很多年？英国布里斯托大学牵头的研究团队利用 Touch Test（一项关于触摸的大型公众调查）的数据，分析了 15,049 名英国成年人的回答，于 10 月 28 日在学术期刊《PLOS One》上发表论文。文章先从读者自己的记忆切入，再介绍调查来源和提问方式，接着说明主要发现：约七成的人记得一个带来积极情绪的拥抱，多半是因为它带来安慰、支持或理解；然后讲个体差异和男女差异，引用第一作者的看法，最后交代研究的局限：样本以女性为主、文化差异可能影响结果，而且只能说明关联、不能证明因果。阅读时可留意 In other words、By contrast、Still 等词如何组织解释、对比与收束，以及 suggests、may、more likely 等表达如何为结论划定边界。

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Think of a hug that you still remember. Maybe it came from a friend after some bad news, or from a parent at an airport. A new study led by the University of Bristol suggests that most people have a memory like this. It also suggests that our personalities may help decide which hugs stay in our minds.

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想一想一个你至今仍记得的拥抱。也许它来自坏消息之后的一位朋友，也许来自机场里的父母。布里斯托大学牵头的一项新研究表明，大多数人都有这样的记忆。研究还表明，我们的性格可能会影响哪些拥抱留在脑海里。

The study was published in the journal PLOS One on October 28. It used answers from the Touch Test, a large public survey about touch that was run with the Wellcome Collection and BBC Radio 4. The survey was carried out in early 2020, and the researchers studied answers from 15,049 adults in the UK. People were asked whether they remembered a hug because of how it made them feel, and which reason described it best.

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这项研究于 10 月 28 日发表在学术期刊《PLOS One》上。它使用的是 Touch Test 的回答，这是一项与惠康收藏馆和 BBC 第四电台合作开展的关于触摸的大型公众调查。调查在 2020 年初进行，研究人员分析了 15,049 名英国成年人的回答。参与者被问到，他们是否因为某个拥抱带给自己的感受而记住了它，以及哪一个原因最能描述这种感受。

About 70 percent said they could remember such a hug. Comfort was the most common reason, and support and understanding were also chosen often. In other words, hugs seem to stay in memory mainly because they make people feel cared for, not because they are exciting.

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大约 70% 的人表示能记起这样一个拥抱。安慰是最常见的原因，支持和理解也经常被选到。换句话说，拥抱之所以留在记忆里，似乎主要是因为它让人感到被关心，而不是因为它令人兴奋。

Personality also mattered. People with higher empathy, who notice and share other people’s feelings more easily, were more likely to report a meaningful hug. So were people who paid closer attention to feelings in their own bodies. By contrast, people who felt less comfortable with emotional closeness were less likely to have such memories. There were also differences between men and women. Men were more likely to remember a hug for its friendliness or for a strong physical feeling, while women more often remembered one because it brought comfort.

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性格也有影响。共情能力较强、更容易察觉并感受他人情绪的人，更有可能报告一个有意义的拥抱。更留意自身身体感受的人也是如此。相比之下，不太习惯情感亲近的人，拥有这类记忆的可能性较低。男女之间也存在差异。男性更有可能因为拥抱的友好或强烈的身体感受而记住它，而女性更常因为拥抱带来了安慰而记住它。

Anna Lena Dueren, the lead author, said that for many people, affectionate physical contact can become part of their lasting personal memories. In her words, this happens because such contact communicates “comfort, support and understanding.” She added that differences in personality shape how these experiences are remembered.

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第一作者安娜·莉娜·杜伦说，对许多人来说，充满爱意的身体接触可以成为他们持久个人记忆的一部分。用她的话说，这是因为这样的接触传递了“安慰、支持和理解”。她还说，性格上的差异会影响人们如何记住这些经历。

The researchers are also careful to point out the limits of their work. Three in four people in the survey were women, so the sample was not balanced. People in cultures with different ideas about touch and personal space may remember hugs in other ways. Most importantly, the study shows links, not causes. It cannot prove that a certain personality makes a hug more memorable. Still, it helps explain why a short moment of touch can leave a lasting impression on many people.

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研究人员也谨慎地指出了研究的局限。调查参与者中四分之三是女性，因此样本并不均衡。在对触摸和个人空间有不同看法的文化中，人们对拥抱的记忆方式可能不同。最重要的是，这项研究显示的是关联，而不是原因。它无法证明某种性格会让一个拥抱更令人难忘。尽管如此，它有助于解释为什么短暂的一次触摸能给许多人留下持久的印象。

新闻来源

• University of Bristol · More than a squeeze: the science of memorable hugs (28 Oct 2026)
• PLOS One · Why we hug: Individual differences predict emotional touch memories (28 Oct 2026)

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