The Science of Hygge

At this time of year hygge gets a lot of press, and it turns out that there is a lot of scientific support for it.

Penelope Green wrote an article about hygge in the December 24 issue of The New York Times (“Move Over, Marie Kondo:  Make Room for the Hygge Hordes,”  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/24/fashion/wintering-the-danish-way-learning-about-hygge.html?emc=eta1&_r=0).

As Green describes “Hygge (pronounced HOO-gah, like a football cheer in a Scandinavian accent) is the Danish word for cozy. It is also a national manifesto, nay, an obsession expressed in the constant pursuit of homespun pleasures involving candlelight, fires, fuzzy knitted socks, porridge, coffee, cake and other people. But no strangers, as the Danes, apparently, are rather shy. Hygge is already such a thing in Britain that the Collins Dictionary proclaimed it one of the top 10 words of 2016, along with Brexit and Trumpism.”

Public spaces, like coffee shops and corporate conference rooms as well as snugs in homes can be hyggelig.

Hygge developed by Northern Europeans over many, many years but its elements so closely align with environmental psychology research that it seems like something researchers spun together out of study findings and presented to the world as a holiday gift.

The elements of hygge supported by science, all of which have been discussed in previous issues of The Space Doctors’ newsletter include:

• Use of dimmer, warmer light
• Gentle movement, whether of candle flames or much larger in-fireplace fires. This sort of activity, along with the flutter of curtains in a peaceful HVAC current, etc., are key elements of biophilic design and mentally refreshing.
• That candlelight also creates a lit and an unlit zone in a space and those zones establish a shared territory, which bonds the people in it together. The importance of being in our own, or our group’s territory, is reviewed here. 
• Warm beverages are a defining feature of hygge and multiple studies have shown that after we’ve held something warm, we have more positive feelings about other people nearby.
• Hygge also promotes the use of curing lines in two-dimensions (say patterns on blankets) and three (for example, round tables), and multiple rigorous studies also link curves to relaxation and comfort—as they do soft textures which are also often a prominent part of hyggelig spaces.