Researchers in the United States say men and women have dramatically different attitudes to the first kiss of a new relationship.

The scientists say while men consider the kiss is just a means to an end, for women it is a crucial element in finding a partner.

Gordon Gallup is a professor of psychology at the State University of New York at Albany.

He has been asking more than 1,000 students about their attitudes to kissing and has just published his findings in the Evolutionary Psychology Journal.

“Most of the women in our survey wouldn’t think of having sex with somebody without kissing them, but most of the males would be more than happy to skip the kissing and go straight to sex,” he said.

He say it’s not just the first kiss where there are clear differences in attitude between men and women.

“It turns out that males tend to kiss as a means to an end, males tend to kiss as a way of trying to gain sexual favours, and also to attempt reconciliation,” he said.

“Females, on the other hand, not only use kissing to assess prospective mates, but females that are in committed relationships use kissing to update the status of their relationship with their committed partner.”

It turns out that despite all the romance, there’s some basic science behind kissing.

“The exchange of complex information that occurs during a kiss, in terms of olfactory cues and chemical cues and tactile cues and postural adjustment, may tap into primitive, evolved mechanisms that make a determination about instances of potential genetic incompatibility,” Professor Gallup said.

He says the bottom line is that a good kiss doesn’t make a relationship, but a bad kiss can kill a relationship.

Further Reading

• How To Make Relationship Work Like A Magic
• 3 Best Dating Ideas For Perfect Relationship
• Ladies! Know When To Get Out
• Is Dating Ideas Matching You With The Right Person?