Research indicates that romantic kissing is not a universal behavior

Who doesn’t like to give or receive a kiss? Surprisingly, the answer is people from more than half of the world’s cultures, at least according to a new study by US university scientists.

The research, published in the scientific journal American Anthropologist, indicates that romantic or sexual kissing only exists in 46% of the 168 cultures analyzed. In some that do not exhibit this behavior, it is even considered repulsive.

In South America, for example, the rate was even higher: 81% of the 21 cultures analyzed do not practice this kiss. An example can be found in Brazil, in the Upper Xingu, where the Indians of the Menihaku tribe, one of the most isolated in the Amazon region, see this type of kiss as something “disgusting”, according to ethnographic reports.

South America is only surpassed by Central America, where 100% of 31 regional cultures analyzed in the study do not have this habit, and by Africa, with 87% of 31 cultures. The researchers do not specify in the article which were all the cultures analyzed, although kisses are common in urban contexts in several of these regions.

At the other extreme is the Middle East, where romantic kissing is present in 100% of the ten cultures studied, followed by Asia (73% of 37 cultures), Europe (70% of ten cultures), North America (55% of 33 cultures) and Oceania (44% of 16 cultures).

WESTERN ETHNOCENTRISM

The new study contradicts previous research that pointed to romantic or sexual kissing as an almost universal behavior, present in 90% of human cultures.

“We suspect that Western ethnocentrism — that is, ‘the belief that behavior currently considered pleasurable must be universal to humans’ — may be leading to the common misconception that sexual-romantic kissing is (almost) universal,” they say. the research authors.

“While kissing is a way of communicating intimacy in some societies or functions as a specific erotic activity in others, it is important to note that, for some, kissing is seen as unpleasant, dirty or just plain unusual, like other sexual or romantic behaviors. .”

Scientists still claim to have found evidence that the habit of romantic-sexual kissing is linked to the complexity of these societies.

The more socially stratified a culture is, the more present this behavior is. “This is not linked to any geographic or cultural region,” the researchers explain.

“It is possible that the emergence of romantic-sexual kissing coincides with the emergence of other factors, such as oral hygiene or the rise of elite social classes that value self-control of affection and affective displays.”

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