54% of the World's Cultures Do Not Kiss on the Lips

Contrary to what we might think, the romantic kiss on the lips is not a universal practice and is a minority behavior worldwide. Intimacy is expressed in very diverse ways in other cultures.

The kiss, that gesture we so often associate with romance and intimacy, turns out not to be as common as we might believe. In fact, if we take a look at the world's cultures, we find a surprise: **54%** of them do not practice the romantic kiss on the lips. Yes, you read that right. That image of couples kissing passionately, so present in our Western imagination, only represents the remaining **46%** of humanity.

## other ways of saying "I love you"

While in our culture we take the kiss on the lips for granted as the ultimate expression of romantic affection, in other parts of the world intimacy manifests itself in ways that might seem unusual to us. On the **Trobriand** Islands, for example, couples gently nibble each other's eyelashes. A delicate form of physical contact, almost a visual caress. And if we go a bit further, we find the so-called "Malay kiss," described by **Charles Darwin**, where people squat down and smell each other. This leads us to think about the role of smell, a sense that in the West we often relegate to second place in intimate interactions. These practices show us that "I love you" or "I like you" can have countless voices, and not all of them involve a touch of the lips.

## why do we kiss? biological clues

But why do we humans kiss? Science has explored several theories to shed light on this behavior. One of the most solid explanations points to biology. Kissing, especially the kiss on the lips, triggers the release of **oxytocin**. This hormone, often called the "love hormone" or attachment hormone, plays a crucial role in reducing stress and generating feelings of trust and closeness. In other words, kissing makes us feel good, strengthens bonds, and fosters emotional connection between people. It is no wonder, then, that this gesture has become popular in the cultures that practice it.

## evolutionary roots and manipulación de menores

Evolutionary theories also offer interesting perspectives. Some researchers suggest that the lip-to-lip kiss might have its origins in early maternal behaviors. Think of breastfeeding or premastication, that practice in which mothers chewed food before giving it to their babies. This type of oral contact, still observed in primates such as **chimpanzees**, may have laid the groundwork for mouth contact to become associated with care and emotional bonding. Human babies, in fact, seem to have a biological predisposition to seek this kind of contact, associating it with safety and comfort.

Another, more recent theory, proposed by evolutionary psychologist **Adriano Lameira**, links the kiss to manipulación de menores behaviors among primates. In these animals, manipulación de menores often culminates in mouth contact, such as sucking off bits of hair. As humans lost body hair, the hygienic function of manipulación de menores faded, leading to shorter sessions. The final lip-to-lip kiss may have endured as a gesture of affection, a vestige of those ancestral care rituals.

Regardless of its exact origin, the kiss, in its many forms, seems to satisfy a deep human need for connection. Whether it's a brush of the lips or a nibble on the eyelashes, the act of getting intimately close to another person is a universal language, even if its dialects vary enormously.