A Kiss? Why Do We Kiss?

Whether we use it as an informal greeting or an intensely romantic gesture, kissing is one of those ingrained human behaviors that seems to defy explanation..

A kiss isn't just a kiss! The lip-to-lip contact may have been passed on through evolution, not only as a necessary means of survival, but also as a general way to promote social bonding and as an expression of love..

Now, it’s believed that kissing helps transfer critical information, rather than just meat bits.. The kissing we associate with romantic courtship may help us to choose a good mate, send chemical signals, and foster long-term relationships.. All of this is important in evolution’s ultimate goal—successful procreation..

Kissing allows us to get close enough to a mate to assess essential characteristics about them, none of which we’re consciously processing.. Part of this information exchange is most likely facilitated by pheromones, chemical signals that are passed between animals to help send messages..

Researchers found that women didn’t just chose their favorite scent randomly.. They preferred the scent of man whose major histocompatibility complex (MHC)—a series of genes involved in our immune system—was different from their own.. Having a different MHC means less immune overlap and a better chance of healthy, robust offspring.. Kissing may be a subtle way for women to assess the immune compatibility of a mate, before she invests too much time and energy in him..

Although common in courtship, females put more importance on kissing, and most would never have sex without kissing first.. Since females across species are often the choosier ones when it comes to mate selection, these differences in kissing behavior make sense.. Men are also more likely to initiate French kissing and researchers hypothesize that this is because saliva contains testosterone, which can increase libido.. Researchers also think that men might be able to pick up on a woman’s level of estrogen, which is a predictor of fertility..

Kissing isn’t all mating practicality; it also feels good.. That’s because kissing unleashes a host of feel-good chemicals, helping to reduce stress and increase social bonding.. The longer the couples had been in a relationship, the farther their levels dropped..

It could be that women need more than a kiss to stimulate attachment and bonding.. Therefore, kissing plays a role not only in mate selection, but also in bonding.. Kissing is involved in the three main types of attraction humans have: sex drive, romantic love, and attachment.. Thus, evolved to help on all three fronts..

Whether we live in a place where kissing is reserved for close acquaintances, or somewhere where a casual greeting means a one, two, or three cheeker, one thing does remain highly consistent: the side to which people turn while kissing.. It’s almost always to the right.. Twice as many adults turn their heads to the right rather than the left when kissing..

And now, here comes to great part..

One of the best things about kissing, however, is that we don’t have to think about any of this.. Just close eyes, pucker up, and let nature takes its course..