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Why Kissing Is So Important: Kissing Helps Us Find The Right Partner And Keep Them
'Kissing in human sexual relationships is incredibly prevalent in various forms across just about every society and culture,' said Rafael Wlodarski, the DPhil student who carried out the research in the Department of Experimental Psychology at Oxford University. 'Kissing is seen in our closest primate relatives, chimps and bonobos, but it is much less intense and less commonly used.
'So here's a human courtship behaviour which is incredibly widespread and common and, in extent, is quite unique. And we are still not exactly sure why it is so widespread or what purpose it serves.'
To understand more, Rafael Wlodarski and Professor Robin Dunbar set up an online questionnaire in which over 900 adults answered questions about the importance of kissing in both short-term and long-term relationships.
Rafael Wlodarski explained: 'There are three main theories about the role that kissing plays in sexual relationships: that it somehow helps assess the genetic quality of potential mates; that it is used to increase arousal (to initiate sex for example); and that it is useful in keeping relationships together. We wanted to see which of these theories held up under closer scrutiny.'
Credit: Wikipedia
The researchers report their findings in two papers, one in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior and the second in the journal Human Nature. They were funded by the European Research Council.
The survey responses showed that women rated kissing as generally more important in relationships than men. Furthermore, men and women who rated themselves as being attractive, or who tended to have more short-term relationships and casual encounters, also rated kissing as being more important.
The Kiss (also known as The May Irwin Kiss, The Rice-Irwin Kiss and The Widow Jones) is an 1896 actuality, and was one of the first films ever shown commercially to the public.
In humans, as in all mammals, females must invest more time than men in having offspring – pregnancy takes nine months and breast-feeding may take up to several years. Previous studies have shown women tend to be more selective when initially choosing a partner. Men and women who are more attractive, or have more casual sex partners, have also been found to be more selective in choosing potential mates. As it is these groups which tended to value kissing more in their survey responses, it suggests that kissing helps in assessing potential mates.
It has been suggested previously that kissing may allow people to subconsciously assess a potential partner through taste or smell, picking up on biological cues for compatibility, genetic fitness or general health.
Credit: Wikipedia
'Mate choice and courtship in humans is complex,' said Professor Robin Dunbar. 'It involves a series of periods of assessments where people ask themselves "shall I carry on deeper into this relationship?" Initial attraction may include facial, body and social cues. Then assessments become more and more intimate as we go deeper into the courtship stages, and this is where kissing comes in.'
He added: 'In choosing partners, we have to deal with the "Jane Austen problem": how long do you wait for Mr Darcy to come along when you can't wait forever and there may be lots of you waiting just for him? At what point do you have to compromise for the curate?
'What Jane Austen realised is that people are extremely good at assessing where they are in the "mating market" and pitch their demands accordingly. It depends what kind of poker hand you've been dealt. If you have a strong bidding hand, you can afford to be much more demanding and choosy when it comes to prospective mates.
The Kiss (In German: Der Kuss) was painted by the Austrian Symbolist painter Gustav Klimt between 1907 and 1908
'We see some of that coming out in the results of our survey, suggesting that kissing plays a role in assessing a potential partner,' Professor Dunbar explained.
Past research has also found that women place greater value on activities that strengthen long-term relationships (since raising offspring is made easier with two parents present).
In the current study, the team found that kissing's importance changed for people according to whether it was being done in long-term or short-term relationships. Particularly, it was rated by women as more important in long-term relationships, suggesting that kissing also plays an important role in mediating affection and attachment among established couples.
While high levels of arousal might be a consequence of kissing (particularly as a prelude to sex), the researchers say it does not appear to be a driving factor that explains why we kiss in romantic relationships.
Other findings included:
• In short relationships, survey participants said kissing was most important before sex, less so during sex, was less important again after sex and was least important at other times. In committed relationships, where forming and maintain a lasting bond is an important goal, kissing was equally important before sex and at times not related to sex.
• More frequent kissing in a relationship was linked to the quality of a relationship, while this wasn't the case for having more sex. However, people's satisfaction with the amount of both kissing and sex did tally with the quality of that relationship.
• In a companion paper in the journal Human Nature, the researchers report that women's attitudes to romantic kissing also depend on where in their menstrual cycle and their relationship they are. Women valued kissing most at initial stages of a relationship when they were in the part of their cycle when they are most likely to conceive. Previous studies have shown that hormonal changes associated with the menstrual cycle can change a woman's preferences for a potential mate. When chances of conceiving are highest, women seem to prefer men who display supposed signals of underlying genetic fitness, such as masculinized faces, facial symmetry, social dominance and genetic compatibility. It appears that kissing a romantic potential partner at this time helps women assess the genetic quality of a potential mate, the researchers say.
Contacts and sources:
Oxford University
EBT Nationwide Shutdown Cause was System Failure
Electronic Benefit Cards (EBT) that allow people on government assistance programs to buy food were not working in 15 states on Saturday. Some people blamed the federal government shutdown caused EBT cards not to work.
According to NBC, Xerox, the vendor that handles the electronic transactions, said a routine check Saturday afternoon resulted in a system failure, and was not related to the shutdown."
Week 6 NFL Picks Against the Spread (Yanotchko)
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Here are my Week 6 NFL picks against the spread:
Houston Texans -8 (over St. Louis Rams)
It's been a weird year for Houston, as they were supposed to be challenging for the Super Bowl, now they look like they will be lucky to be in the wildcard race. The Texans problems start with Matt Schaub, who like Eli Manning is mired in a slump, and has thrown pick-sixes in four straight games.
The Texans will right the ship this week, as the Rams come to town, and will give Schaub a chance to feast on a pass defense that gives up 256 yards per game and 11TDs. Also, Houston will help Schaub greatly in the form of Arian Foster and Ben Tate, who get to go against the 28th-ranked rushing defense that gives up 126 yards per game and 4.5 yards per carry.
I know the Texans have looked shaky as of late, but they were playing two NFL heavyweights in San Fransisco and Seattle. I will lay the points here, as the Texans will pound St. Louis into submission with their ground game.
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Pittsburgh Steelers +1 (over New York Jets)
The Jets have been a great story this year, and for all his bravado and swagger, I think Rex Ryan is not getting nearly enough credit for the job he has done.
The Steelers are 0-for this year in the win column, and now it comes out that Mike Tomlin has banned all games in the locker room to help them focus. The Steelers are a much better team than their record indicates, and I always love teams that need a win who are coming off their bye week. The Steelers will also present problems for Geno Smith, who had a great game against Atlanta, but now faces the No. 2 pass defense that allows only 199 yards per game and four TDs.
In the end, I will take the team that is getting the points, needs the win, coming off their bye week, and is playing the team that is coming off an emotional Monday Night game. Take the Steelers to post the first win here.
Cincinnati Bengals -6 (over Buffalo Bills)
In yet another game that will feature a new quarterback, the Buffalo Bills will have to start Thaddeus Lewis for the injured E.J. Manuel.
The Bengals offense has looked downright pathetic the last two weeks, but they had played two of the tougher defenses in Cleveland and New England. The Bills defense will allow Andy Dalton and crew the chance to work out the kinks, as Buffalo is ranked 21st against the pass, giving up 261 yards per game, and 23rd against the run, surrendering 116 yards per contest. The Bengals are certainly a playoff team, and this week will give them the chance to break out of their two-week offensive slump.
On the other side of the ball, the Bengals defense has been great, as they held Tom Brady to only six points last week. I will lay the points for the road favorite here, because when you can't decide between Jeff Tuel and Thad Lewis, well than you really don't have much of a chance.
Five of our contributors make three weekly picks ATS every week and they will be posted here.
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