Romantic kissing refers to the touching of lips between
romantic partners—boyfriends, girlfriends, spouses, etc. Romantic
kissing is rarely studied in sciences—aside from the very unromantic
examination of kissing in transmission of infections and sexually
transmitted diseases (STDs). Psychological investigations of kissing in romantic relationships too have been limited to a few topics—one example being gender differences in kissing (men are more likely to initiate kissing before sexual intercourse; women, after intercourse).1 But no psychological studies have investigated why people kiss—until now, that is.
In an article, published in the current issue of Sexual and Relationship Therapy, Thompson and coauthors examine potential reasons why we kiss.
