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Research suggests that mothers kiss their babies because of the way prehistoric mothers fed their children.
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Kissing
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The kiss at the end of a wedding probably comes
from ancient Roman kissing traditions.
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How
Kissing Works
BY TRACY V. WILSON
When you really think
about it, kissing is pretty gross. It involves saliva and mucous membranes, and
it may have historical roots in chewed-up food.
Experts
estimate that hundreds or even millions of bacterial colonies move from one
mouth to another during a kiss.
Doctors
have also linked kissing to the spread of diseases like meningitis, herpes and
mononucleosis.
Yet
anthropologists report that 90 percent of the people in the world kiss. Most
people look forward to their first romantic kiss and remember it for the rest
of their lives.
Parents
kiss children, worshippers kiss religious artifacts and couples kiss each
other. Some people even kiss the ground when they get off an airplane.
So
how does one gesture come to signify affection, celebration, grief, comfort and
respect, all over the world? No one knows for sure, but anthropologists think
kissing might have originated with human mothers feeding their babies much the
way birds do.
Mothers would
chew the food and then pass it from their mouths to their babies' mouths. After
the babies learned to eat solid food, their mothers may have kissed them to
comfort them or to show affection.
In
this scenario, kissing is a learned behavior, passed from generation to
generation. We do it because we learned how to from our parents and from the
society around us.
There's
a problem with this theory, though: women in a few modern indigenous
cultures feed their babies by passing chewed food mouth-to-mouth. But in some
of these cultures, no one kissed until Westerners introduced the practice.
Other researchers
believe instead that kissing is instinctive. They use bonobo apes, which are
closely related to humans, to support this idea. Bonobos kiss one another
frequently.
Regardless of sex or
status within their social groups, bonobos kiss to reduce tension after
disputes, to reassure one another, to develop social bonds and sometimes for no
clear reason at all.
Some researchers believe that kissing
primates prove that the desire to kiss is instinctive.
Several
other animal species have behaviors that resemble kissing. Many mammals lick
one another's faces, birds touch one another's bills and snails caress one
another's antennae.
In
some cases, the animals are grooming one another rather than kissing. In
others, they're smelling scent glands that are located on faces or in
mouths.
Regardless,
when animals touch each other in this way, they're often showing signs of trust
and affection or developing social bonds.
Scientists
don't entirely agree on whether kissing is learned or instinctive.
There's
support for both arguments, just as there's support for the different theories
of why people started doing it in the first place. See the next page to learn
more.
DO WE HAVE TO HEAR THE
KISSING PART?
Modern research
suggests that just about every culture on the planet kisses.
However,
anthropologists and ethnologists have described a few cultures in Asia, Africa
and South America that do not kiss at all. Some of these cultures view kissing
as disgusting or distasteful.
However, other
researchers point out that these societies may view kissing as too private to
discuss with strangers. In other words, they might kiss but not talk about it.
The Effects of Kissing
While
researchers aren't exactly sure how or why people started kissing, they do know
that romantic kissing affects most people profoundly.
The
Kinsey Institute describes a person's response to kissing as a combination of
three factors:
·
Your psychological response depends on your
mental and emotional state as well as how you feel about the person who is
kissing you. Psychologically, kissing someone you want to kiss will generally
encourage feelings of attachment and affection. If you're kissing someone you
don't like, or you're kissed against your will, your psychological response
will be completely different.
·
The
culture in which you grew up plays a big part in how you feel about kissing. In
most Western societies, people are conditioned to, look forward to and enjoy
kissing. The behavior of the people around you, depictions in the media and
other social factors can
dramatically affect how you respond to being kissed.
These
factors play a part in all kisses, not just those that are romantic in nature.
In other words, when a mother kisses her child's bruise to make it feel
better, psychological, physical and social factors play a part in both people's
reactions.
The
same is true when friends kiss as a greeting, worshippers kiss religious
symbols or siblings kiss and make up after an argument.
Even
though some kisses are platonic and others are romantic, they generally have
one thing in common - they are inspired by and tend to inspire feelings we
think of as positive.
Regardless
of exactly how people got the idea to kiss or what they mean when they do it,
anthropologists are pretty sure that people started kissing thousands of years
ago. We'll look at the history of kissing in more detail next.
WHAT AN INCREDIBLE SMELL!
People in some cultures rub one another's noses or
cheeks rather than, or in addition to, kissing. Anthropologists theorize that
this "Eskimo kiss" grew from people smelling one another's faces
much the way animals do.
The History of the Kiss
Historians
really don't know much about the early history of kissing.
Four
Vedic Sanskrit texts, written in India around 1500 B.C., appear to describe
people kissing. This doesn't mean that nobody kissed before then, and it
doesn't mean that Indians were the first to kiss.
Artists
and writers may have just considered kissing too private to depict in art or
literature.
After
its first mention in writing, kissing didn't appear much in art or literature
for a few hundred years.
The
Indian epic poem "Mahabharata" describes kissing on the lips as a
sign of affection. The "Mahabharata" was passed down orally for
several hundred years before being written down and standardized around 350
A.D.
The
Indian religious text "Vatsyayana Kamasutram," or the "Kama
Sutra," also describes a variety of kisses. It was written in the 6th
century A.D. Anthropologists who believe that kissing is a learned behavior
theorize that the Greeks learned about it when Alexander the Great invaded
India in 326 B.C.
There
aren't many records of kissing in the Western world until the days of the Roman
Empire. Romans used kisses to greet friends and family members. Citizens kissed
their rulers' hands.
And,
naturally, people kissed their romantic partners. The Romans even came up with
three different categories for kissing:
·
Osculum was a kiss on the cheek
·
Basium was a kiss on the lips
·
Savolium was a deep kiss
The
Romans also started several kissing traditions that have lasted to the present
day.
In
ancient Rome, couples became betrothed by kissing passionately in front of a
group of people. This is probably one reason why modern couples kiss at the end
of wedding ceremonies.
Additionally,
although most people today think of love letters as "sealed with a
kiss," kisses were used to seal legal and business agreements.
Ancient
Romans also used kissing as part of political campaigns. However, several
"kisses for votes" scandals in 18th century England led - in theory -
to candidates kissing only the very young and very old.
KISSING UNDER THE MISTLETOE
Today, some people seem to spend the holiday season
waiting under the mistletoe in the hopes of kissing whoever passes by. But
until the 1400s, kissing under mistletoe was a big commitment. Such kisses
often meant that a couple was engaged.
More on the History of the Kiss
Kissing
played a role in the early Christian Church. Christians often greeted one
another with an osculum
pacis, or holy kiss.
According
to this tradition, the holy kiss caused a transfer of spirit between the two
people kissing.
Most
researchers believe the purpose of this kiss was to establish familial bonds
between the members of the church and to strengthen the community.
Until
1528, the holy kiss was part of Catholic mass. In the 13th century, the
Catholic Church substituted a pax board,
which the congregation kissed instead of kissing one another.
The
Protestant Reformation in the 1500s removed the kiss from Protestant services
entirely.
The
holy kiss doesn't typically play a role in modern Christian religious services,
although some Christians do kiss religious symbols, including the Pope's ring.
Although
few religions currently incorporate the holy kiss, kissing remains prevalent
throughout Western culture. Nowadays, people kiss in many contexts and for many
reasons.
But
not all kisses have been happy events. Works of literature like "Romeo and
Juliet" have portrayed kisses as dangerous or deadly when shared between
the wrong people.
Some
folklorists and literary critics view vampirism as symbolic of the
physical and emotional dangers that can come from kissing the wrong person.
Most
cultures around the world kiss today, but many have different views about when
and where kissing is appropriate.
In
the 1990s, several news articles reported a trend of young people kissing in
public in Japan, where kissing had traditionally been viewed as a private
activity.
Next,
we'll look at the anatomy and physiology behind kissing.
KISS OF JUDAS
One of the Western world's most famous kisses is the
kiss Judas Iscariot used to betray Jesus shortly before his crucifixion.
This
kiss had an influence on Christian spiritual practices. Early church sects
omitted the holy kiss - or abstained from kissing entirely - on Maundy
Thursday.
Maundy
Thursday is the Thursday before Easter and the day used to commemorate the Last
Supper, after which Judas betrayed Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.
The Anatomy of a Kiss
Most
people think about what to do when kissing another person, but fewer ponder all
the technical details behind it.
No
matter who you're kissing or why, the basic kiss relies heavily on one muscle -
the orbicularis oris, which runs
around the outside of your mouth.
Your
orbicularis oris changes the shape of your mouth while you talk, and it puckers
your lips when you kiss.
But
orbicularis oris is really just the tip of the iceberg. About two-thirds of
people tip their heads to the right while kissing.
Scientists
believe this preference starts before we're born, when we tip our heads to the
right in the womb. So muscles in your head, neck and shoulders tilt your head
so your nose doesn't collide with your partner's nose.
In
addition, the rest of the muscles in your face and head also play a part in a
more involved kiss. For example:
·
Several
muscles move your lips around. Zygomaticus
major, zygomaticus minor and levator labii superioris pull your
upper lip and the corners of your mouth upward. Depressor
labii inferiorisand depressor anguli
oris pull the corners of your mouth and your lower lip downward.
·
If
you open your mouth, your lateral
pterygoid pulls your jawbone down. Your massiter, temporalis and medial pterygoidclose your mouth.
·
Several
muscles - your genioglossus, styloglossus, palatoglossus and hyoglossus - move your tongue if you
decide to use it.
Anyone
who has ever been kissed knows that the sensations involved aren't confined to
the mouth.
Your facial nerve carries impulses between
your brain and the muscles and skin in your face and tongue.
While
you kiss, it carries messages from your lips, tongue and face to your brain to
tell it what's going on. Your brain responds by ordering your body to produce:
·
Oxytocin, which helps people develop feelings of attachment,
devotion and affection for one another
·
Dopamine, which plays a role in the brain's processing of
emotions, pleasure and pain
·
Serotonin, which affects a person's mood and feelings
·
Adrenaline, which increases heart rate and plays a role in
your body's fight-or-flight response
When
you kiss, these hormones and neurotransmitters rush through your body. Along
with natural endorphins, they
produce the euphoria most people feel during a good kiss.
In
addition, your heart rate increases and your blood vessels dilate, so your
whole body receives more oxygen than it does when you're just standing around.
You
can also smell the person you're kissing, and researchers have
demonstrated a connection between smells and emotions.
KISSING
THE BLARNEY STONE
Tourists visiting Ireland often stop by Blarney Castle
near Cork to kiss the Blarney Stone. It's said that kissing the stone bestows
the kisser with the gift of blarney, or eloquence. takes a lot more than just
lips.
To
reach it, people have to lie on their backs, hold a set of handrails and tip
their heads backwards until they are essentially upside down.
Your
body may also play a role in who you prefer to kiss. Researchers have proven
that women prefer men with immune system proteins that are different from
their own.
In
theory, having a baby with someone with different immune proteins can lead to
healthier offspring.
Scientists
believe that a woman may be able to smell these proteins while kissing, and
that what she smells may affect whether she finds her partner attractive.
COOTIES FROM KISSING?
Most
people know that mouths are germy places. Kissing is directly tied to a few
illnesses:
· Mononucleosis is often called "the kissing disease"
because it is carried in saliva and can be spread through kissing.
· The herpes simplex 1virus causes cold soresand is easily transmitted through
kissing.
· Although kissing
doesn't necessarily cause meningitis,
researchers have tracked a correlation between teenagers' number of kissing
partners and likelihood of developing the disease.
· Some researchers
theorize that bacteria that cause gastric
ulcers may spread through kissing.
· It's unlikely
that a person will contract the human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) through kissing, but the United States Centers
for Disease Control has reported one case of HIVtransmission contracted this way.
About Tracy V.
Wilson
Tracy V. Wilson
has loved stories and science for as long as she can remember. She joined
HowStuffWorks as a staff writer in 2005, and she spent her first few years at
the site destroying gadgets and mining patents, papers and interviews for the
sake of figuring out what makes things tick. In 2007, she took on the role of
hiring and training HowStuffWorks’ new writers and editors, and she became site
director in 2010. She cohosted the PopStuff pop culture podcast with Holly
Frey; the pair now cohosts Stuff You Missed in History Class. Tracy spends her
downtime much like she spends her time at work: reading, writing, tinkering and
brooking only the most delightful nonsense.
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Many animal species exhibit kissing-like behaviors.
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