Kissing is fun, and it’s a really simple (and sweet) way to show your partner how you feel about them. However, kissing is so much more than that as well.
Kissing, is a marker for how well a relationship is doing, according to psychology. In a study that was published in the journal Sexual and Relationship Therapy, evidence is found of a link between kissing frequency and overall relational satisfaction. Based on the results, it is suggested that “kissing frequency could be considered a bell weather of sorts for determining if the relationship bonding is strong and the sexual quality is high.”
Study author Veronica Hanna-Walker of Brigham Young University says, “I was interested in this topic because the majority of the research that focuses on physical behavior and its association with relationship and sexual satisfaction has examined sexual intercourse or other overtly sexual behaviors,” continuing, she explains, “Even though romantic kissing (i.e., kissing a partner on the lips for a romantic purpose) is not seen in all cultures, it is everywhere in Western culture. Movies, T.V. shows, books, and more seem focused on that one magical moment where two people finally share a kiss. I wanted to see how important this seemingly small and common behavior was for romantic relationships. In other words, I wanted to know if romantic kissing was important or not.”
To come to their conclusions, the study authors used Amazon’s Mechanical Turk to survey 1,605 participants who had been in committed relationships for at least two years.
What they found was that the ones who kissed their partners more often also had higher levels of arousal and sexual satisfaction during their most recent sexual experiences. Additionally, kissing was correlated with experiencing an orgasm.
On top of sexual satisfaction, they found that more frequent kissing was also linked to higher levels of relationship satisfaction.
“Kissing can be a useful tool in helping the emotional and sexual aspects of relationships grow stronger. Kissing your partner more may increase sexual arousal, the likelihood of experiencing an orgasm during sex, and increase feelings of secure attachment between partners. Kissing is a small part of romantic relationships, but it is important to not forget it,” Hanna-Walker explained to Psypost.
In the future, Hanna-Walker says she would like to examine the gender differences on the importance of the frequency of kissing as well as look into other intimate acts like cuddling, hugging and holding hands.