You may think you know the reasons why people enjoy kissing, but a new study published this month reveals the true history of this intimacy.
Research conducted by Adriano R. Lameira, a professor of psychology at the University of Warwick in England, suggests that kissing was once an evolutionary instinct, a form of behavior that served to nurture other creatures.
Lameira conducted research that he says the evidence suggests that kissing is not a signal of love in the human sense. He believes it was once part of a method for removing lice, the New York Post reports.“Kissing is a surviving, degenerate form of primate care that has retained its original form, context, and function,” he explains.
Studies of monkey behavior suggest that kissing is actually the final stage of lip contact during grooming, when the caregiver pulls the fur or skin of another animal into their mouth to remove debris or parasites.
Lameira estimates that humans “began to kiss intimately” about four million years ago, and the earliest record of kissing can be found in Mesopotamian texts from around 2500 BC.”
How kissing became an intimate act remains unclear,” said Lameira, adding that kissing with “intimate intent” is a “special case” and that further research is needed to understand how kissing and sex became intertwined.
“Today, kissing symbolizes trust and belonging,” the professor emphasizes
