Study suggests it may help you size up potential long-term mates
By Robert Preidt
HealthDay Reporter
(HealthDay News) -- "A kiss is just kiss," the old song goes,
but not according to a new study that finds kissing helps people assess
potential partners and, once in a relationship, keep them around.
The study included more than 900 adults who took part in an online
questionnaire that asked about the importance of kissing in both short- and
long-term relationships. In general, women rated kissing as more important in
relationships than men.
Kissing was also rated more important by men and women who viewed themselves
as being attractive, or who tended to have more short-term relationships and
casual encounters, according to the findings, which appeared Oct. 11 in the
journals Archives of Sexual Behavior and Human Nature.
Previous studies have shown that women tend to be more selective when
initially choosing a partner, as do men and women who are more attractive or
have more casual sex partners.
Since these are the same groups that tended to value kissing more in their
survey responses, it suggests that kissing helps in sizing up potential mates,
the Oxford University researchers said.
They noted that it has been suggested that kissing may allow people to
subconsciously assess a potential partner through taste or smell, thus taking in
biological cues for compatibility, genetic fitness or general health.
Previous research also has found that women place greater value on behaviors
that strengthen long-term relationships. This survey found that the importance
of kissing changed depending on whether people were in a short- or long-term
relationship, and that women rated kissing as more important in long-term
relationships.
This suggests that kissing also plays an important role in maintaining
affection and attachment among established couples, the researchers said.
"Kissing in human sexual relationships is incredibly prevalent in various
forms across just about every society and culture. Kissing is seen in our
closest primate relatives -- chimps and bonobos -- but it is much less intense
and less commonly used," study author Rafael Wlodarski said in a news release
from the journals.
"So here's a human courtship behavior which is incredibly widespread and
common and, in extent, is quite unique," Wlodarski said. "And we are still not
exactly sure why it is so widespread or what purpose it serves."
These new findings may provide some answers.
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