I chose this article because it explains the physiology behind one of my favorite past times: kissing / making out. I was goofing around on the web the other day and through digg.com (great website - go to it!) I found the website below. It's an article called "Why We Kiss: the Science of Sex." It's fascinating, so I wanted to share this article with you.
The article explains that although the use of pheromones to create attraction is thought to not work for humans, chemicals are still used in communication. The article outlines how women are more attracted to the scent of a man who can help them to produce healthier children. It also explains that twice as many adults turn their head to the right than the left while kissing. (You're all thinking about which side you prefer, aren't you?)
Another cool topic covered by the site is that men and women see kissing differently. Most women would never have sex with someone without kissing them first but most men would. And men are more likely to initiate French kissing because saliva contains testosterone, and testosterone can increase arousal. Indications show that men can also gauge the amount of estrogen a woman has (indicator of fertility) via this method.
However, the most fascinating part of the article (for me) was kissing's effects upon hormone levels. In general, kissing releases a ton of hormones that make us feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but the site focuses on the levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) and oxytocin (the bonding hormone). In long-term relationships, cortisol levels dropped after kissing. And oxytocin levels increased ONLY in the males. My girlfriend wasn't too happy to hear this, but I now understand partly why I enjoy kissing so much.
During a quick search for more information, I found the other link. At howstuffworks.com, they have a lot of information about how kissing works, its history, effects, and the anatomy of a kiss. It also includes more information on kissing's effects upon dopamine, serotonin, and adrenaline, too.
http://www.divinecaroline.com/22081/76045-kiss--science-sex
This was an excellent article! It was fun to read but also packed with credible information. I thought the most interesting parts were the historical foundation of kissing, the transfer of food from mother to child, the cultural similarities and differences in kissing meaning and technique as well as the findings that most people turn their head to the right when making their move because of the patterns of infant gestation.
It was relevant to class because we discussed the way the release of brain chemicals can alter our emotions and the motivation behind the smooch.
GREAT JOB! :)
This was an excellent article! It was fun to read but also packed with credible information. I thought the most interesting parts were the historical foundation of kissing, the transfer of food from mother to child, the cultural similarities and differences in kissing meaning and technique as well as the findings that most people turn their head to the right when making their move because of the patterns of infant gestation.
It was relevant to class because we discussed the way the release of brain chemicals can alter our emotions and the motivation behind the smooch.
GREAT JOB! :)
I have to agree, this is a great article. I think this is something that anyone would find interesting, not just us amazing people who are interested in psychology.
I know in class we have talked about our physiological needs, one of them being sex. Kissing obviously isn´t sex, but it can lead to it. It didn´t really surprise me about the part of the article where they talked about the men not needing to kiss someone before they have sex in opposition to women who almost always kiss someone before they have sex. I say this because of my past conversations with both my guy and girl friends. Also, as I´m a girl, I agree with the statement, I definitely need to kiss someone before I start making my way around the bases, let alone a home run.
Something I found interesting was the evolutionary biologist who believed that kissing is involved in the three main types of attraction humans have: sex drive, which is ruled by testosterone; romantic love, which is ruled by dopamine and other feel-good hormones; and attachment, which involves bonding chemicals like oxytocin. I have never really thought of the different ways that people are attracted to each other and how many of us need all of those types of attraction to be with someone long-term (in terms of a healthy relationship).
Awesome article.
Philematologists huh? I had no idea that there were people who strictly studied kissing exclusively. I thought it was very interesting not only that kissing increased dopamine levels but also reduced cortisol levels, especially with those who had been a a relationship longer, but the oxytocin actually only increased in males, it is surmised females need more than simply kissing to release this hormone. Also the biological aspects involved in kissing to evaluate a mate are perplexing the unknown evaluation involved in a kiss is phenomenal. The whole turning the head to the right was also something I have never considered.
I definately found this article to be interesting. I didn't know how much I would actually buy into it, but after reading it, the article made a lot of good points, that was backed up by actual research.
One of the most interesting things that I found in the article was the research done on cortisol and stress levels involved with kissing. I never thought of kissing as a way to relieve stress, but once I started to think about it made sense. When I used to be with my boyfriend, it was always a good stress reliever for me to hang out with him and of course kissing would be involved. This suggests that both social affiliation with him and the kissing lowered my cortisol levels, which reduced my stress that was being experienced.
Another article that was very similar to the original article mentioned is http://www.livescience.com/health/090213-kissing-science.html. I found that this article had a lot of the same information but discussed the actual studies that were done a little more that the other article did. This article talked about a study that was done at a university on couples. They set up a room for the couple, where they could be alone, and the results showed that after they became more intimate(kissing,touching, spending time together) their cortisol levels dropped drastically and men's oxytocin levels increased.
Overall, the topic of why people kiss and what the benefits of kissing are, was interesting to me, and there are a lot of good websites out their that discuss this specific topic if anyone is interested.
I found this article to be very interesting! I have never thought about why kissing would have started but after reading that it probably started because mothers would pass food to their children that way completely made sense. Every time I read about the study of women smelling men’s t-shirts and being able to determine the guy that has a different MHC therefore more likely to have more healthy and robust offspring. I was also surprised that adults more often turn their heads to the right when they kiss as opposed to the left. I tested this while giving my fiancé a kiss before he left for work and sure enough we both go to the left! Great article post!
This is a great article! I thought it was very strange that people used to consider kissing as the best way to feed toothless babies...weird. It's very interesting that out bodies unconsciously pick out people that are good for making babies (in many ways other than kissing), because for most of us at this point in our lives don't want babies! Most people don't even know what MHC is, but we look for it! It makes sense that kissing decreases cortisol, in turn decreasing stress...the first thing many people do when they get home from work or school is kiss their significant other, because it feels good. I completely agree with Helen Fischer's reasons for kissing: sex drive, romantic love, and attachment. Aren't these three of the very most important aspects of a relationship?
This is a very interesting article. First of all I thought it was kind of funny that there is a scientific name for people who study kissing, aka philematologists. I also found it intriguing that scientists believe that kissing began as a way for primate mothers to pass along chewed food for their toothless babies. They believe that kissing was not only a necessary means of survival, but also a type of social bonding. We have learned about many physiological needs this semester and I believe this article relates to this topic. Human sexual behavior is influenced by hormones, and the sex hormones include androgens and estrogens. Kissing may be something that helps us choose a good mate, send chemical signals, and foster long-term relationships. Therefore, the first kiss may break it or make it when it comes to deciding if the person is someone you want to invest a lot of your time in.
I also found it interesting that kissing can unleash a host of feel-good chemicals, which can help reduce stress. This may be helpful when it comes to the stressful finals week that is approaching us way too quickly this semester. I loved this article and learned a lot of interesting facts from it. And as for the second article linked on this post, I agree that kissing is pretty gross if you think about it. Experts think that hundreds or even millions of bacterial colonies move from one mouth to another during a kiss but this is not stopping the world from pecking, smooching, Frenching, or playing tonsil-hockey as some may like to call it. :)