A question about kisses

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Why do people kiss? I'm not talking about the platonic peck on the cheek or whatever. I'm not looking for answers like "It feels good" or anything like that. Someone told me it's instinct, but why? My friend once said it's to arouse someone. Is there any biological evidence behind it?

I have wondered this myself and would also like to know. Do all cultures do it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss#Nature_and_history

This is a short article and it's pretty good: http://scienceline.org/2006/10/ask-fiore-kiss/

I read that article. I still wonder why it's instinctual...

I've heard a theory that it's evolutionarily useful as it "vaccinates" mothers against Cytomegalovirus, which is pretty nasty to the fetus.
Could just be an exaptation though.

I doubt it's instinctual. I think it's behavior that we see others engaging in, and so it's behavior we engage in as well.

If that was so, we would not expect it to be cross-cultural.

What I'm saying is that's why it seems instinctual, not the origins of it. The origins of it is that it feels good.

(Then again, why are dragons so cross-cultural? But I'm getting off-topic...)

Supposedly it allows the male to transfer a small amount of testosterone to the female through the saliva. This hormone tends to arouse both men and women. I can not find the source for this, so it may only be a rumor.

Maybe because we've seen it & heard it talked about so much in movies/TV & songs that the desire got kinda implanted in us. That's what happened to me. I never had a desire to kiss until I listened to Miranda Cosgrove's song Kissin U a bunch of times.. But now that I think about it. It could be because I already had a crush on her. Only other time I wanted to kiss someone was 8 years ago when I fell in love with someone

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhT_6Yz-Nbc[/youtube]

because it's fun

http://www.amazon.com/Science-Kissing-W ... 0446559903

Here you go.

I think that young couples kiss in public, just to show off.

I think it is instinctual, but not the literal act of kissing...just what it represents. A physical connection, affection, to deeply express the feeling of a connection with another human being. Why do we do it with our lips? Probably like everything else, through trial and error. All mammals have features that attract the opposite sex for the purpose of mating, humans go by the face. The more symmetrical the eyes, nose, and lips are, the more attractive we find that person. We idolize celebrities for this reason. Men are attracted to woman's eyes and lips as far as the face goes, (breasts and hips for child bearing reasons) and rubbing eyes together isn't very fun. The skin on the lips is very thin, making them darker and more attractive than the rest of the face, and more sensitive to touch. So it makes sense. Its just how we were made.

Yup it is very likely an instinctual thing, I think it's probably a way of physically connecting as part of the whole courting thing.
Here's a little factoid: bonobos snog each other too!