Kissing causes a chemical reaction in your brain, including a burst of the hormone oxytocin. According to a study , oxytocin is particularly important in helping men bond with a partner and stay monogamous. Women experience a flood of oxytocin during childbirth and breastfeeding, strengthening the mother-child bond. Speaking of feeding, many believe that kissing came from the practice of kiss-feeding.
Much like birds feeding worms to their little chicks, mothers used to — and some still do — feed their children their chewed up food. The more you get of these hormones, the more your body wants them. For some, this may be more apparent at the start of a relationship — especially if most of your time is spent in a lip lock.
If you can keep up a steady pace of kissing after that initial spark fizzles, you can continue to enjoy the benefits of those happy hormones. You may even have a more satisfying relationship. In a study , couples in long-term relationships who frequently kissed reported increased relationship satisfaction. Older research shows that for women, kissing is a way to size up a potential mate. It also plays an important role in their decision to hit the sheets.
Female participants said they were less likely to have sex with someone without kissing first. Open mouth and tongue kissing are especially effective in upping the level of sexual arousal , because they increase the amount of saliva produced and exchanged. You can thank the many nerve endings in your lips for their part in making kissing feel so very good.
Your lips have more nerve endings than any other part of your body. When you press them against another set of lips or even warm skin, it just feels good. Along with the oxytocin and dopamine that make you feel affection and euphoria, kissing releases serotonin — another feel-good chemical. With their tongue. Okay, we'll stop. This is sounding weird. Although there's much more to kissing than sex, locking lips can play a remarkable role in foreplay. Others agree. Researchers who took part in another study theorized that exchanging saliva during a kiss "may have biological consequences in its own right.
It might not be all about passing testosterone, though. Like women, men make assessments through kissing, but, according to Susan Hughes, an evolutionary psychologist at Albright College in Pennsylvania, "men have reduced chemosensory detection" so they "may need more saliva" to properly assess.
Testosterone isn't the only thing that is exchanged during a smooch. Gallup, Jr. Scientists have found that kissing can alter a person's levels of the feel-good hormone oxytocin and a minute makeup session can even lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol. But more than just hormones are at play. An article in the American Journal of Medicine revealed that an average kiss contains small amounts of water, protein, "organic compounds," fats, and sodium chloride.
Your standard kiss also contains anywhere from 10 million to 1 billion bacteria — and as many as different species. Although most of these types of bacteria are not considered "bad," it's possible to pass herpes simplex, respiratory viruses, streptococci — the cause of strep throat — and, in very rare cases, gum disease.
Oxytocin may just be the key ingredient in a kiss — at least for men. This hormone has been found to aid men to bond with their partner and remain monogamous, which, biologically speaking, is "potentially costly for males," as one study put it. Kissing is, of course, not just about swapping spit and hormones and fats and proteins and It's about attachment and bonding — much like other forms of physical touch.
An earlier study also cited that couples had an easier time resolving their conflicts when engaging in displays of physical affection. Cuddling — or holding — and kissing on the lips were found to be the most effective forms of physical affection. Kissing is important while in long-term relationships, as highlighted above, but science has proved that kissing is important at other times, too.
In fact, women rate kissing as more — or less — important depending on where they are in their menstrual cycle. As one study revealed, hormonal changes had previously been found to have an effect on women's mate preferences.
It was discovered that women who were in the follicular phase — the phase in which a woman has the highest chances of getting pregnant — preferred men "displaying putative signals of underlying genetic fitness.
Sure, it's a strange study, but the results were interesting. The more you learn about kissing, the more you may agree with the hunter-gatherer tribe in Brazil. However, it's not only people in remote tribes who find the practice disgusting. It was once believed that 90 percent of the global population engaged in a form of romantic kissing. But that figure was way off. In , researchers studied different cultures around the world and discovered that under half — 46 percent — of them swapped kisses.
And, if you're thinking this isn't the case in western cultures, think again. The study via Women's Health revealed that an astounding 45 percent of North American cultures surveyed don't participate in romantic-sexual kissing. One form of kissing was found to be prevalent in all cultures, though. But the thought of kissing a romantic partner?
According to Jankowiak, one researcher revealed to him that some of those he interviewed admitted to "[nibbling] each other's eyebrows," but nevertheless found the idea of kissing to be gross. Nothing says "I love you" quite like eyebrow-nibbling, right? Why Do We Kiss? The kiss-feeding theory Shutterstock. Narcissistic personality disorder and a family separation. Vaccination strategies and return-to-office policies vary greatly from country to country. Research shows menopausal women often leave the workforce due to the symptoms.
Knowing what toys to buy for a crawling, gurgling baby is mind-boggling. One in 50 people suffer from the condition, which can include cognitive impairments, anxiety, muscle tenderness and sleep disturbance. Please update your payment details to keep enjoying your Irish Times subscription. Science of kissing: why a kiss is not just a kiss The evolutionary origins and physiology behind mouth to mouth kissing Tue, Feb 13, , Sylvia Thompson.
What are the origins of kissing? Is kissing unique to humans? Do people kiss in all cultures? Is there a biological rational for kissing? Home energy upgrades are now more important than ever. Borrowing or renting toys could be the best play for parents in Ireland Knowing what toys to buy for a crawling, gurgling baby is mind-boggling.
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