Infatuation Rules
Photo by Dmitriy Zub Pexels Logo Photo: Dmitriy Zub

Why do we kiss on lips?

What is important with lip-on-lip kissing and other types of kissing is that the moment is about sharing close, intimate information about each other. Kissing by pressing our lips together is an almost uniquely human behaviour.

What makes a man fall deeply in love with a woman?
What makes a man fall deeply in love with a woman?

Physical attraction, sexual compatibility, empathy, and emotional connection are key to making a man fall in love with a woman. Oct 3, 2022

Read More »
How do you tell if a woman is unhappy in a relationship?
How do you tell if a woman is unhappy in a relationship?

Here, then, are 7 signs a woman is unhappy in her marriage: She stops wanting to have sex. ... She shuts down because she doesn't feel heard. ......

Read More »

"But I think the key to the human universal of kissing, or the absence of it, is that people's sensuality can be met in many ways other than just kissing," says Jankowiak. Those cultures that do not kiss lip on lip find other ways to be intimate, says author Sheril Kirshenbaum. "There's the Malay kiss that Darwin described, where women would squat down on the ground and men would kind of hang over them and take a quick sniff of each other – take a sample of their partner’s scent." On the Trobriand Islands, off the east coast of Papua New Guinea, lovers kiss by sitting face to face and nibbling at each other's eyelashes, "which I think to many of us today doesn't sound like the height of romance but for them that did the trick", says Kirshenbaum. What is important with lip-on-lip kissing and other types of kissing is that the moment is about sharing close, intimate information about each other.

Kissing by pressing our lips together is an almost uniquely human behaviour. If kissing has an evolutionary purpose, why don't we see more animals kissing?

Melissa Hogenboom answered that question for BBC Earth in 2015. One of the reasons we might have been compelled to get up close to the face of a partner is to give them a good sniff. Scent can reveal all sorts of useful information: diet, presence of disease, mood and relatedness, to name some. Many animals have far more sophisticated senses of smell than we do, so they don’t have to be nearly as close. * William Park is a senior journalist for BBC Future and tweets at @williamhpark

--

If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called “The Essential List”. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife, and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.

How do I advice my friend?
How do I advice my friend?

5 tips for giving advice to your friends Be an active listener. Ask your friend to explain her problems and listen with the intent of hearing her...

Read More »
Do they ever come back after no contact?
Do they ever come back after no contact?

Yes, they can. People find their way back to their ex if they realize how much they miss her. This may happen if you spend much time together...

Read More »

Can you love someone after 3 months?

Case in point: An 2018 survey of 1,000 British men and women found that while more than half of them take over three months to say, "I love you," 32% of women and 29% of men say it in one to three months—and 10% of women and 14% of men say it in just one to four weeks.

One 2017 survey found 72% of men and 61% of women believe in love at first sight, and a 2004 study found about a third of Americans say they've personally experienced it. There's some science that backs up the concept: Some research suggests people decide within seconds whether they're romantically interested in someone, and neurologically speaking, it takes only one-fifth of a second for the neurochemical reaction associated with feelings of love to fire off. But other research discounts the theory. A 2017 study in the Personal Relationships journal orchestrated a bunch of first encounters between single strangers, and the researchers found feelings of instant attraction can indeed happen in a first encounter. Some people described these feelings as "love at first sight"—however, these people didn't report feelings of intimacy, passion, and commitment as part of their experience. The main predictor of a "love at first sight" experience was finding the other person physically attractive. In other words, romantic love usually cannot happen at first sight, psychologist and sex therapist Lauren Fogel Mersy, PsyD, explains to mbg. "There can be a strong attraction at first sight, but romantic love for someone requires knowing who they are, the fullness of their character."

How much sleep does a woman need?
How much sleep does a woman need?

How many hours of sleep are enough for good health? Age group Recommended amount of sleep 3 to 5 years 10 to 13 hours per 24 hours, including naps...

Read More »
What does toxic communication look like?
What does toxic communication look like?

These are the communication styles that research has found to be the most damaging to couples' connection over time: criticism, defensiveness,...

Read More »
Does time apart make love grow?
Does time apart make love grow?

Does Absence Really Make the Heart Grow Fonder? It turns out, there's actually some truth to this phrase! A study published in the Journal of...

Read More »
How many bases does intimacy have?
How many bases does intimacy have?

When it comes to sexual intimacy, the four relationship bases are broken down into the first, second, third, and fourth bases. These relationship...

Read More »