From long romantic kisses to small pecks on the cheek, kissing is a huge part of how we express all types of love and plays an important role in emotional bonding. This leads us to wonder how kissing became such an integral part of society and our relationships.

One theory dates back to an ancient evolutionary system of food sharing wherein food would be chewed in the mouth of the mother and passed into the mouth of her offspring. This formed a connection between mother and child, which in modern society translates to the connection we feel when we kiss one another and the loving feelings that are associated with a kiss.

Another idea is that a baby experiences a sensation of love and security when they drink from their mother’s breast or from the bottle with their lips. This in turn lead to the lips and kissing being associated with positive, loving feelings and might explain why kissing someone is a popular way of showing affection.

When it comes to romantic love and kissing your partner or potential partner, kissing plays a pivotal role. Most people believe that a good kiss means they have found a good match, and are more likely to pursue a relationship with that person. A bad kiss denotes a lack of chemistry, pointing to a poor genetic match which could affect how healthy the offspring would be. Generally, people are more attracted to someone that has different MHC’S (major histocompatibility complex) than them as this means greater gene variation which increases the chances of having a healthy baby.

The lips are the most erogenous zone in the body, meaning that they are highly sensitive to touch or feeling. Touching lips is therefore a source of pleasure, releasing feel good endorphins and hormones such as dopamine and oxytocin into our body which are responsible for greater intimacy, love and attachment between two people. So it is easy to see why kissing plays such an important role in romantic relationships.

So there you have it, just some of the reasons why kissing is a part of our culture and evolved to become an integral part of our relationships and a way to express love and affection. As if we even needed an excuse!