Kissing is something I adore… and I’m certain you enjoy it too. But have you ever pondered what a kiss truly is?
Reflecting on my early dating experiences, I recall one of my first outings after high school, where a guy invited me for a drink. I met him at the pub, and we held hands for a while before strolling to the bus stop, wishing for a delay of at least ten minutes on the bus arrival.
In that moment, we kissed with such fervor and emotion, our feelings and hormones swirling around us.
With names like pecking, smooching, and playing tonsil-hockey, there seems to be as many terms for kissing as there are methods to execute it.
Kissing serves various purposes, from a casual greeting to an intensely affectionate act, making it an inherent behavior in humans that puzzles explanation. Whether it’s a quick peck for luck, a tender kiss after a bumpy boat ride, air kisses to acquaintances, or the prolonged smooches seen in films—each carries distinct meanings while sharing a commonality. So why do we feel such an inclination to pucker up?
Philematologists, or scientists who research kissing, remain uncertain about the origins of this human behavior. The most plausible explanation points to primate mothers transferring pre-chewed food to their infants without teeth. This lip-to-lip action may have been passed down through evolution, functioning not just as a survival tactic but also as a method to encourage social bonding and express affection.
However, the nature of kissing has evolved significantly since the days of food-sharing. It’s now thought that kissing conveys vital information instead of simples morsels. The type of kissing associated with romantic courtship might aid us in mate selection, transmit chemical signals, and strengthen long-term bonds—crucial elements in the evolutionary objective of successful reproduction.
Through kissing, we come close enough to a potential partner to evaluate important traits, much of which occurs subconsciously. Pheromones, chemical signals that circulate between animals to convey messages, likely play a key role in this exchange. While animals utilize pheromones to inform one another about mating, food, and danger, researchers suspect that these signals may also influence human behavior. Although our vomeronasal organs, thought to detect pheromones, are presumed to be vestigial in humans, studies suggest that we still communicate via chemical means.
Research on behavior reinforces this biological insight. A study in 2007 conducted by researchers at the University of Albany, involving 1,041 college students, highlighted notable differences in how males and females regard kissing. Though prevalent in courting rituals, females place a higher value on kissing, with many unwilling to engage in sexual activity without it first. Conversely, men may pursue sexual activity even without a kiss beforehand, often willing to be intimate with someone who doesn’t kiss well. Given that females, across various species, tend to be the more selective partners, these differing kissing behaviors seem logical.
Additionally, men tend to take the lead in French kissing, which researchers speculate is linked to saliva’s testosterone content—believed to enhance libido. Researchers also propose that men could interpret a woman’s estrogen levels through kissing, an indicator of her fertility.
One of the greatest aspects of kissing, however, is that we don’t need to contemplate all these intricacies. Simply close your eyes, pucker up, and allow nature to take over.
by Susan Floyd
