The cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, attraction, affection, respect, greeting, friendship, peace, and good luck, among many others.
In some modern Western cultures, kissing on the cheek is regarded as an expression of affection. Obviously, there is a huge difference between that and kissing on the lips.
Kissing on the lips is a physical expression of affection or love between two people in which the sensations of touch, taste, and smell are involved.
When the lips are pressed together for an extended period, usually accompanied by an embrace, it is an indication of romantic and sexual desire. The practice of kissing with an open mouth, or moving the tongue into the mouth, has come to be called “French kissing.”
Kissing on the lips can be dangerous!
It is possible for kissing to result in the transmission of some diseases, including the infectious of mononucleosis and herpes simplex when the infectious viruses are present in saliva.
Browse our LifeDaily selection of other surprisng facts about kissing:
When you kiss someone for the first time, you get a spike in the neurotransmitter dopamine, making you crave more. Dopamine can make you lose your appetite and cause difficulties with sleeping.
Two thirds of people tilt their head to the right when they kiss. This fact was discovered by
German researcher Onur Güntürkün after spying on 224 couples kissing in public places in the United States, Germany and Turkey.
Kissing helps us work out if someone is a good match. Biological anthropologist Helen Fisher says we tend to prefer people with particular biological profiles. Trading saliva is one way to figure out if someone is a good fit.
When you kiss, your heart beats faster and more oxygen reaches your brain. This is due to the neurotransmitters epinephrine and norepinephrine which promote the fight-or-flight response. It also makes the pupils dilate, which explains why we usually close our eyes when kissing.
The muscle used to pucker the lips is called the “orbicularis oris.” The shape made with the mouth mirrors that of a breastfeeding baby, which is one possible way that kissing evolved.
Kissing triggers the release of oxytocin in your body. Sometimes called the “love hormone,” oxytocin is involved in developing feelings of attachment.
Women rate kissing as more important in relationships than men do and tend to use kissing to assess potential mates; men use it to increase the likelihood of sex.
The world record for the longest kiss stands at well over two days. It is held by a Thai couple, Ekkachai Tiranarat and Laksana Tiranarat, who set it in the run up to Valentine’s day last year. The kiss lasted 58 hours, 35 minutes and 58 seconds.
Over time, kissing lowers your levels of stress hormone cortisol, making you feel safe and secure.The longer you’ve been with someone, the bigger the decline.
Your lips have a disproportionate number of nerve endings compared to other parts of your body. When your lips touch someone else’s 5 out of 12 of your cranial nerves are engaged.You’re brain is basically trying to gather as much information as it can about the other person.
Most people remember their first kiss more vividly than the first time they had sex.
Interestingly, John Bohannon of Butler University asked 500 people about their memories of important life experiences, including their first kiss and losing their virginity.
The first kiss beat everything as the most detailed memory!
Do you remember your first kiss with pleasure or horror?
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