The silly poll, scientific-style

[drwex]

On Saturday it was observed with some amusement that I purr when I'm hugged by someone I like. I kind of thought everyone did this, but a quick comparison showed that while some other people do (sunspiral), some do not (inahandbasket). For comparison purposes the same person hugged each of us and I'm quite sure all of us find her likable and attractive.

So I ask, dear friends: do you purr, or otherwise vocalize pleasure when someone you like hugs you?

If you're not sure, please go out and hug someone you like who likes you and observe the reactions. Remember, it's for SCIENCE!

Comments

[cos]

Sometimes.

[bridgetminerva.livejournal.com]

does a low throat hum count?

[dpolicar]

I (approximately) never purr. I occasionally make a variety of happy noises that serve a similar purpose though. It's more a sign of my feeling relaxed and content than of degree of liking per se, although of course the two aren't unrelated.

[drwex]

it does. That's almost the definition of "purr".

[drwex]

yes, I know, it's a poll without an "I am cos" option.

[stevie-stever.livejournal.com]

I already know that I do, though not for everyone, nor is that dependent on how much I like them.

[louiseroho.livejournal.com]

mmmmmm, yeah.

[slfisher.livejournal.com]

I'm more of an mmmmer

[taura-g.livejournal.com]

I'm not really sure, I will have to wait until tonight to gather evidence.

[quietann.livejournal.com]

I usually don't purr, but I think I hug back *really hard*.

[rintrahroars.livejournal.com]

I suppose it depends on how you define "purr." I make a happy moan sound, kinda low. Sometimes growly if it's someone who particularly pushes my buttons. I've been known to nuzzle near the ears if I'm so inclined, and with someone I really like.

I LOVE to hug. I put my whole body into it when welcomed. Mmmm hmmm.

[ariesd.livejournal.com]

yep I purr when hugged, stroked or otherwise shown phyiscal affection. Note the stroking is none sexual here but more a hair rubbing, face caresses etc. Oh the purr in these case is a low mmmmmmmmmmmmmm sound. Actual purring is reserved for biting. :-)

[mizarchivist]

Not always. Sometimes it's in response to purring done by the other hugger.

[keyne.livejournal.com]

Me too.

[sweetmmeblue.livejournal.com]

For me there are 2 variables, not 1. Do I like the person and is it a good hug? If I like the person but it's sort of a light/partial one armed hug then no purring. If it's a good two armed contact hug then definitely. Sometimes I will purr cause of other affectionate contact that is not hugging specific.

[whuffle.livejournal.com]

Nope, don't purr.

I think you should also correlate this to whether or not the person doing the hugging and purring is a cat-owner or has ever been a cat-owner. Basically, "are you a cat person"... Because I'm not, so maybe this is more a correlation to expressing yourself in the way you were taught by your pets????

[goddessfarmer.livejournal.com]

I think I purr sometimes, but I can take some samples tonight and find out.

[formlesspassion.livejournal.com]

I am a cat person, but I never purr.
My vocalizations during hugs are always situational and communicate more than just happiness. Often, sympathy, surprise, puzzlement, bliss, relief, nervousness, etc.

[sweetmmeblue.livejournal.com]

I'm a dog person. I purr.

[whuffle.livejournal.com]

Okay, so maybe there isn't a correlation there. Hmmmm.

[vibrantabyss.livejournal.com]

yes i purr

[sweetmmeblue.livejournal.com]

There is so much I could reply to this but I'm sure all of it would get me into trouble.

It might be an enjoyable trouble and not that I'd complain about that but um. ok I'll stop digging now.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

Whereas I am not a cat person, but I do purr. :)

[wren13.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that would be me, too. Very much in response to the warmth of the hug, rather than the giver.

[ceo]

I volunteer to be a sample. :-)

I don't generally purr; at least I don't think I do. Maybe I need to take some samples too.

[coraline]

sometimes i go "mmmm" and sometimes i don't. proper purring is usually reserved for particularly good hair-petting, backrubs, and more intimate things.

[rintrahroars.livejournal.com]

Trouble? What is this word....

It's for SCIENCE, dear one. Of course, hugging YOU is a true pleasure. You hug back! *squeeee!*

[chienne-folle.livejournal.com]

Whether or not I make happy hugging noises depends partly on the person who's hugging me but also partly the situation. If I think that I like the hugger more than they like me, I may suppress such sounds. Or if we're in a public place where I don't feel entirely comfortable. Or if the person's primary is nearby and I'm not sure how that person feels about our relationship. Or if [insert some other variable that I probably haven't quite pinned down].

I'm so seriously a dog person that I expect to grow a tail any minute now :-), so I don't know if my happy hugging noises qualify as purrs or not.

[rintrahroars.livejournal.com]

Huh. I was once owned by a cat. So, you think we pick up such behaviors from our pets? Is it because I'm a dog owner that I growl?

I think the only thing my dog has taught me so far is not to leave her home alone in a thunderstorm in the same room as my favorite blue clogs.

[prosicated.livejournal.com]

*giggle*
I sigh sometimes, but it's like the tension-release noise; the noise is relatively involuntary (I could & would know to stifle in certain situations, but wouldn't think to make it as encouragement) & more correlated to the hug than the hugger.

[sweetmmeblue.livejournal.com]

Oh no, I was thinking of totally not for science. Well, if it's for science we could do it again and again to make sure that the experiment was repeatable for validation. Then we could have other permutations to rule out other variables. Then we'd have to make sure we had really ruled those out...

Hm.... Ok now what was I doing?

[wolfkitn.livejournal.com]

oh, what a question. i think i'm with sweetmmeblue in that there are different variables, although i can't imagine really hugging someone who i didn't like, quite a bit.

that said, i've had some amazing hug-relationships with some people, and there have been some pretty intense hugs, such that i'll bet that others have assumed that much more was going on in less public settings. i think i'm a physical contact slut in some senses, and so i really, really get into hugs for their own value, and don't necessarily need them to become or lead to anything else.

but, to answer your actual question... do i make noise? i have no idea. i doubt it, actually. hugging doesn't knock the breath out of me, and that usually seems to go along with making noise. and i'm as much of a cat (and possibly dog? dear deity.) person as i've ever met!

[drwex]

See, I think of "mmm" as a form of purring.

[drwex]

Ok now what was I doing?

I think that's called "hitting on"

[drwex]

I don't recall you purring, now that I think about it.

[drwex]

So, what results did you get?

(Can you tell I'm totally pleased that I might cause my friends to hug?)

[drwex]

OK, so what's the difference between "mmm" and "proper purring"?

[drwex]

I am torn between "I can't believe you analyze the hug that much" and "of COURSE you analyze the hug that much" to determine your own reaction.

[drwex]

I think you're definitionally in the "does not purr" category for this experiment.

On the other hand, we did agree to have some snuggle time, so I'm totally psyched to experiment with this.

[drwex]

Your hugs are indeed amazing, but I seem to recall you do not purr. I'm happy to have you disprove this, but it really would have to be in person to confirm.

For science, you understand...

[coraline]

for me, "proper purring" is a noise more like a rolled r, under the breath, without the vocal cords involved.

[ceo]

On the first sample, I thought I didn't purr, but my collaborator told me I did. Subsequent samples were invalidated by observer effect.

[chienne-folle.livejournal.com]

*laugh* I hadn't realized that you knew me that well!

I didn't mean to imply that I analyze those factors in the moment -- I hug the person spontaneously. But reflecting later, I notice that those factors guide my behavior, even when I'm not thinking about them in the moment. My unconscious is pretty smart, so I mostly do what it tells me to do, even if I don't figure out why until later.

When I was in training to be a therapist, supervisors listened to tapes of me doing therapy (with the client's permission, of course), and one of them said, "How do you come up with a reframe SO FAST? The client says something, and you say, "I wonder if it might be more helpful to look at it this way," without any pause for thought. How are you doing that?" And I had to confess that I said stuff just because it felt like the right thing to say at the time, and it was only AFTERwards that I could explain how this fit in with the client's issues and worldview and all that jazz and was the right thing to say for that person.

On the Meyers-Briggs (which I don't have that much faith in, but which does seem to capture some things), my N (intuition) is off the scale. It's not like I never think -- I think a LOT, but it's usually before or after actual behavior.

Does that sound less freaky than what you'd assumed or more? :-)