Human touch in DK missing?

 

I realized that when I get my hair cut in Denmark, the stylist doesn't wash my hair, she just spritzes it with water, but in the US, I get a total scalp massage.  With the mani/pedi, which I used to get done every other week when I lived in the US, I get a fantastic foot and calf massage and hand massage, and walk out feeling pampered and relaxed.  In Denmark, I can't afford a regular mani/pedi, and had to learn how to apply my own nail polish again, which looks like crap, due to my own lack of hand-eye coordination, and is in no way relaxing and pampering.

 

In the US, I hugged and kissed my friends hello, and business partners as well, since I worked in Latin America and the Caribbean and it was normal practice.  In Denmark, I shake hands or stand at arm's length and have a conversation.

 

I just read an article in the NY Times, "Evidence That Little Touches Do Mean So Much".  (I'm linking it, but I'm not sure how long it will be accessible).  The article states "Momentary touches... — whether an exuberant high five, a warm hand on the shoulder, or a creepy touch to the arm — can communicate an even wider range of emotion than gestures or expressions, and sometimes do so more quickly and accurately than words.   ... A warm touch seems to set off the release of oxytocin, a hormone that helps create a sensation of trust, and to reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol.  In the brain, prefrontal areas, which help regulate emotion, can relax, freeing them for another of their primary purposes: problem solving. In effect, the body interprets a supportive touch as 'I’ll share the load'."

 

I'm wondering if this lack of personal touch in my experience in Denmark has left me feeling that Danes, in comparison to what I'm used to, are cold and uptight, or if that what we as foreigners percieve as "uptight" would be any different if Danes had closer regular human contact??

 

It also made me think of the experiments with monkeys, where monkeys were given "artificial mothers", one made of wire, and one covered in cloth... and the image of the sad little monkeys clinging to the soft artificial mommy monkey.

 

Do Danes just need touch therapy?  Do we need Danes to get touch therapy?  For those of us who come from huggy cultures, does it affect us long-term to have to shift gears into something more impersonal than we're used to? 

 

Just wondering.  (Isn't it great how vacation gives you time for extended philosophical thought?)

 

Mary