Table of contents:
- The origin of the kiss
- The importance of closing your eyes when kissing
- Is kissing with your eyes open normal?
Kiss is a form of closeness and intimacy that has been known to humans even since prehistoric times. Whether with family, friends, or lovers, kissing has become a symbol of love. Especially for lovers or husband and wife, kissing on the lips has a deeper meaning than just touching each other's mouth. If you pay attention, people will usually close their eyes when they kiss. In fact, when a couple is chatting or holding hands, they don't need to close their eyes. Then why do you tend to close your eyes when kissing? It turns out that this is closely related to the biological system in the human body. To find out more, keep an eye on the following information.
The origin of the kiss
The understanding of kissing as a form of love and trust is embedded in humans from birth. When you were a baby, you learned to interact and build relationships with other people for the first time through your lips, namely through the activity of breastfeeding the mother. This experience then shapes the baby's perception of love and security. The nerves of the baby's brain will interpret activities that involve the mouth and lips as positive emotions. When you grow up, you will still interpret stimulation or touch on your lips, including kissing, with love and security.
The lips are also one of the most sensitive parts of the body to sexual stimulation. On your lips, there are innumerable nerves that are sensitive to the slightest touch. This touch or pressure sends signals to the part of the brain that is responsible for processing information and sensory systems. Then, the part of the brain that receives the signal from the kiss will produce hormones and substances such as dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin that can make you feel happy and comfortable. These three are often referred to as the love hormone which is also produced when you are breastfeeding your mother.
The importance of closing your eyes when kissing
To find out why people tend to close their eyes when kissing, psychologists at Royal Holloway, University of London (RHU) tried to conduct an experiment. Through this experiment, researchers studied how experimental participants responded to stimuli provided by touch while working on word search games. The results of this study indicate that the stimuli provided were not fully realized or felt by the experimental participants. Meanwhile, when participants are not asked to do any task that involves sight, they will be more sensitive to the given touch.
The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, further concludes that humans will be more sensitive to the sensations of touch that occur when kissing if there are no visual disturbances. When your eyes are open, the brain will be busy processing various types of information received by the sense of sight. As a result, it is difficult for your brain to concentrate on the stimuli your lips receive. This is why most people tend to close their eyes when kissing. Closing your eyes can help you feel the sensation of kissing more intensely.
According to dr. Sandra Murphy and dr. Polly Dalton who carried out this research, humans have a natural urge to close their eyes in order to increase focus on one sense only. It also answers the mystery of why people close their eyes when listening to music, which is so that the brain can concentrate on the listener's senses. People also tend to close their eyes when enjoying delicious food so that their senses can work better in recognizing the taste and texture of food. Similar to kissing, people usually close their eyes during sex so that the brain can feel a stronger sensation of physical touch.
Is kissing with your eyes open normal?
Don't be afraid if your partner usually kisses without closing their eyes. Some people, especially boys, do have a tendency to kiss with their eyes open. This can be triggered by several reasons.
The first reason is that your partner wants to record the kissing moment in his memory as best he can. The memories that some people want to create are not only limited to the sense of touch, but also the senses of sight, smell, or hearing. He will remember the atmosphere, body odor, and the expression on your face when you kiss.
In other cases, your partner is so busy controlling the movements of their lips, tongue, and mouth that even the brain has a hard time sending commands for their eyelids to stay closed. Usually this happens when you and your partner are kissing passionately. So, it does not mean that your partner deliberately "peeks" when kissing.
