Six Reasons Why You Should Kiss

BY: News Peddlers

What Makes Us Kiss?

Ella Al-Shamahi investigates why we kiss in the third episode of BBC Radio 4's Why Do We Do That? Is it as widespread as we believe? What does it mean in our romantic lives? Is kissing a biological urge deeply ingrained in our DNA, or is it a learned cultural thing learned from a million movies?

Helping Ella to get closer to the value of "the snog" are Radio 1 Life Hacks Presenter Katie Thistleton and Dr Rafael Wlodarski.

Get ready for six important facts about kissing.....

1. The first recorded kiss dates back to 9000 B.C.

The first written record of a kiss dates from around 1500 B.C. and can be found in Indian Sanskrit scriptures. They describe people sniffing or touching their mouths to each other.

However, a much earlier depiction of embrace dates from around 9000 B.C., when the Ain Sakhri lovers carving was discovered in caves near Bethlehem. The couple depicted are engaged in what appears to be sexual intercourse, with their mouths touching.

2. It is not a worldwide phenomenon.

We may think of kissing as a standard expression of romance and desire, but in 2015, a group of anthropologists in Nevada and Indiana conducted a large survey of 168 different cultures from around the world and discovered that only 46% of them used lip-to-lip romantic kissing.

Ella's first kiss came after her arranged marriage, and her upbringing sheds some light on some cultural resistance to kissing. "I grew up in an extremely conservative Muslim community, so if a rom-com came on and one of the Hollywood Jennifers kissed, someone older would literally lunge at the remote control!"

"My mother and aunts grew up in a Yemeni village, and an angry camel once chased them up a tree. So, clearly, they've seen a lot, but I'm almost certain they've never seen a romantic kiss."

3. Kissing alters your body's microorganisms.

Kissing intimacy does not always sound romantic. According to Ella, some scientists compare kissing to two people spitting into their hands and then offering it to each other.

It's an apt analogy, given that a 10-second kiss exchanges 80 million bacteria. If you kissed your partner nine times a day, you'd have very similar bacterial make-up, or oral microbiomes, as they're known.

4. Kissing on a regular basis is the best indicator of a healthy relationship.

Oxford University researchers used 15 different methods to try to understand why people kiss. "We asked how frequently you kiss with your partner," Dr Rafael Wlodarski says, "and we also looked at the relationship quality of that particular partnership. Kissing was found to be a better predictor of relationship health than frequency of sex."

5. It is an important factor in compatibility.

Another important finding of the Oxford team was that kissing is part of the process by which people choose a partner before making a commitment. The reason for this is due to odour.

"By and large, the most important part of kissing is the smell," says Dr. Wlodarski, who adds that "people find the smell of someone who is genetically compatible to them more attractive than the smell of someone who isn't genetically compatible."

Katie Thistleton's own experience supports this. "I completely understand," she says, "I've only loved the smell of a guy since I've been with my husband. Even in the morning, I enjoy the smell of his breath! And I've never done that with ex-boyfriends. So, I honestly believe that true love is like falling in love with someone's smell!"

6. Kissing is biological as well as cultural.

Kissing appears to be biologically motivated. Dr. Wlodarski, on the other hand, comes to a split decision. "I believe the biological imperative to be that physically close and intimate with someone, but I believe the expression of that imperative is quite cultural... whether it's romantic mouth-to-mouth kissing, nose rubbing, smelling or inhaling, biting or licking, or any of these other many types of kisses."

Of course, everyone has their own preferences, and Katie makes it clear what hers are: "No one needs to put their tongue in someone else's mouth. That's not required!"

BBC Radio 4