Research has indicated the 90% of cultures engage in swapping spit rituals. But why? Sure it feels good, but there is more than meets the tongue during a hot (or not) makeout session. So much more that an actual science about it has been born: philematology.

Essentially we have sex for the purpose of procreation, right? Ok, so in that case kissing serves as the red light or green light to hitting the next base, so to speak. This explains why you can be completely attracted to someone but after that first kiss, be totally turned off… the kiss is your indication that this person would not be a suitable mating partner. This also explains why kissing (in most cases) comes before any other sexual involvement… it subconsciously protects us from making poor choices. In essence, a bad kiss is a lovesaver!

In a simple kiss, is lots of information. The smell, taste, sound and feel of a kiss affects our perception of our kissee and if we want to move forward or not. Neurobiologically, kissing causes your brain to release high levels of noraepinephrine, dopamine, and phenylethylamine. These are all neurotransmitters which attach to our brain’s pleasure centers and result in feelings of euphoria, giddiness and elation. The more you kiss, the “higher” you become and therefore, the more likely it is that you will engage in sex, thus theoretically leading to procreation. Make sense?

Simply, kissing is truly the ultimate partner taste test. And we are all in some way, philematologists (how lucky!). So, what’s your preferred kissing flavor? Have a phenomenal or horrendous kissing story to share? We’d love to hear!