Phew thank goodness I'm French by ancestry and not so far from my roots that my family HUGS.
You go back one generation and got kissed on both cheeks and hugged. lol

Not to say I hug on strangers - but it would be awful to not hug as so many describe. It is an obvious problem and it does worsen as we age I suspect.

I keep reading about folks who hand out hugs at Pride events etc. and how so many go so long without hugs. It is sad.

That being said forcibly hugging the unwilling isn't cool either and you need to read people and talk to them before you engage. All my nephew's went through a "Stage" - and then grew back out of it.
And there are people who just don't want to be touched unless they initiate it.

I'm remembering my early Psych and how infants fail to thrive without touch.
I suspect we need some degree of touch our entire lives - but often simply sublimate it. I do believe a pet is a decent substitute - they seek you out as well. It's likely the reason pet owners live longer and have lower Blood Pressure etc..

Maybe that is what is wrong with me. lol I go years without touching other humans.

I think it is largely a fundamental animal thing - every social animal has touching rituals. Monkeys groom each other, dogs sniff and rub against each other, people shake hands, hug, swap spit, etc.
Not a sexual thing, but certainly a bonding experience and essential in any community of any species

Born prematurely with one lung un-inflated, I was not expected to live. Weighed 3 lbs. Nurses slapped my tiny feet to make me scream to exercise my lung. Spent two months in an Isolette.

I had a deep need for tender, human touch. One of the nurses was a friend of my mother. She held me close while feeding me with a bottle. Good.

Living alone, I meet my need for touch in healthy ways. I'm a hugger. Sleeping under a warm down comforter helps my muscles relax.

In the winter, I warm a Bed Buddy in the microwave. With delicious warmth against my back, I relax and fall asleep instantly.

Yup that's basic was demonstrated with chimpanzees in a study those deprived of human touch went insane