Your task today is to hug 12 people! And not halfhearted hugs. Full, proper hugs.

Humans are social beings by nature. In the famous Harlow experiment with monkeys, baby monkeys preferred comfort over food. (If you want to look more in depth into this experiment, let me know and I'll link a video.) This is because (especially as developing children) we crave and truly need touch and affection. Hugs provide us with that sense of security and love (which relates back to Maslow's hierarchy of needs which I think I've talked about before? Point being the whole point of humanistic psychology is to love and be loved).

Hugs are also similar to smiles in that they can trick the brain into thinking you're happy by releasing hormones such as dopamine and serotonin into your bloodstream (which is why emotional reactions are slower than neural impulses as those take electricity).

In other news, I have my AP Psychology exam tomorrow.

~Margot