Top 5 Facts about Kissing

Time to learn something about philematology– the study of kissing. You’d better click away now if you’re philematophobic. Welcome to WatchMojo’s Top 5 Facts! In today’s instalment we're counting down the five most fascinating things that you probably didn't know about kissing!

In a biological sense, a ‘kiss on the hand may be continental’, but it’s extremely complex as well. Kissing involves around 146 muscles, including 34 facial muscles. And when kissing a partner, especially a new one, the senses are sent into overdrive. The lips are one of the most sensitive parts of the body, and when yours meet another’s 5 out of 12 cranial nerves are engaged. This means that the kisser’s brain is trying to gather as much information as it possibly can about their kissee. Experts claim that part of the reason why people kiss is to find a biological match, which is worked out via these sensory exchanges and, perhaps less romantically, through the trading of saliva.

Statistically speaking at least. In a study conducted by German professor Onur Güntürkün, it was found that twice as many people tilt their head to the right whilst kissing, than to the left. Güntürkün people-watched in the US, Germany and Turkey, recording observations for more than 120 kisses. Around 80 of those kisses were conducted by couples leaning to their right side, leading experts to suggest that it’s a natural impulse to do so, inherent in us since birth. Güntürkün’s findings mirror the right-sided bias of a baby’s movements in the womb, and the tendency for new-born children to turn their heads to the right. So, when you kiss, lean in to the right – because then you’re less likely to be wrong.

In 1439, King Henry VI banned kissing across England, in an attempt to prevent the spread of disease. That piece of legislation, which was largely aimed at ceremonial and religious kissing, led to a spate of similar laws being made across Europe. Supposedly, the most extreme case was had in Naples, where reportedly, on March 9th 1562 kissing in public was banned, under punishment of death– all in the name of curtailing illness. At least, this is what it says all over the internet. We couldn’t find any authoritative historical source for this law, or even that there even was a plague in Naples in 1562. But, just as not kissing won’t stop a plague, not being true can’t stop an internet rumor!

According to Justin Garcia, a research scientist at Indiana University, less than half of all cultures partake in so-called passionate kissing. Garcia studied 168 cultures across the world, and ascertained that only 46% of them engage in romantic kissing. Other estimates say that around 10% of the global population doesn’t kiss at all, in any way shape or form. Garcia described his findings as a ‘reminder of how Western ethnocentrism can bias the way we think about human behaviour’. The local attitude to kissing is always worth researching when travelling abroad; what’s accepted in one country may be frowned upon in another, unpractised, misunderstood, or even criminally offensive.

While it remains inadvisable to kiss anybody with a cold (or a cold-sore for that matter), most experts say a good smooch is good for you. Lock lips with someone for around 10 seconds, and up to 80 million bacteria may be transmitted between you and them. Swapping germs is basically nature’s version of vaccination though, so kissing is a great way to boost your immune system. Kissing has also been linked to lowering blood pressure and curing headaches, the increase in saliva is good for keeping clean teeth, plus a good make-out session will usually burn a few calories, and it’ll send your self-esteem sky-rocketing. So, for your health’s sake, pucker up!

So, what do you think? Is spit-swapping a barely-tolerable byproduct of kissing, or one of its many benefits? For more luscious Top 10s and 66% right Top 5s, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com!