Holding hands, hugging, grabbing, and kissing are all ways to display affection to someone, especially your significant other. But should you save the affection for the bedroom or display the affection in public? Did you know that there is actually a day committed to displaying your affections in public? It is June 20th, the first day of summer; it is called National PDA Day. National PDA Day was conjured up at Arizona State University
A few colleagues and I conducted a research study that explored the idea of publicly displaying affection. We were interested in seeing whether or not age affected ones likelihood to display affection towards another it person in public. We expected to see teenagers and college aged individuals publicly display affection more often than that of middle aged and old aged individuals. In addition, we believed that individuals who showed PDA will display it in a low level of intenseness, such as holding hands.
The results of the study suggest that age does affect the level of PDA a couple may show because as age increases so does the amount of couples showing no PDA. In addition, there was a significant amount of couples across all age groups that held hands and hugged in public, which are low to moderate levels of PDA, with regards to the level of intensity. I believe this suggests that couples of all ages are more comfortable with showing low to moderate levels of affection in public versus more high levels of affection such as grabbing and kissing.
For instance, who would’ve thought, Kim Kardashian showing a lower level of PDA than her sister, Kourtney Kardashian who is clearly showing some highly intense affection with her man. However, there are many other factors, not only age that affect whether individuals publicly display their affection. Factors such as the general mood an individual is in, gender, race, cultural background, and religion can possibly play a role in whether an individual is open to PDA. Also, maybe some individuals who do display affection in public are “putting on a show” for others or they simply didn’t know anyone was watching them?
But do you think there should be a National PDA Day just to “bring people closer”? In my opinion, I think some people are already close enough. Results of the study that my colleagues and I have conducted clearly suggest that people are open to showing affection in public, but I believe they are open to affection that is more socially acceptable, such as hugging or holding hands. I believe it is a simply a degree to which how much respect people have for others to not show those high levels of affection in public.
Do you believe it is important to have a day committed to people openly displaying affection towards another person in public? I mean, do you like walking down the street and seeing a couple making out on a bench, almost about to “slide into home base”? I surely don’t like to see things of that nature, but that is just my own opinion. Times are changing and certain things are becoming more socially acceptable than ever before. So what is your opinion on the matter?
