Scientist Why people often have a side preference when kissing

Kiss and hug: Why do people have side preferences here?

When people embrace, they usually start with the right hand. Similar preferences exist in other social touches such as kissing. According to researchers, whether one is left-handed or right-handed is important. However, this is not sufficient as a sole explanation.

Kissing is healthy

A few years ago, when US scientists researched in a study where they kiss a lot worldwide, they discovered that kissing on the mouth is common in just a few cultures. However, those who do so not only experience moments of happiness, but also do health according to research. According to various studies, kissing strengthens the immune system and reduces stress. But why do people close their eyes while kissing? And why do you have side preferences? Researchers have answers to these questions.

People often have a side preference when touched in social contexts such as kissing or hugging, for example, they tend to tilt their heads to the right rather than to the left when kissing. Researchers have now wondered why this is so. (Image: Nick / fotolia.com)

Why people close their eyes while kissing

A few years ago, scientists from the University of London concluded that people often close their eyes when kissing, because the brain has difficulty processing other senses while focusing on visual stimuli.

German and New Zealand researchers now report why people have page preferences when kissing and other social touches.

Page preference when touching in social contexts

When touched in social contexts such as kissing or hugging, people often have a side preference, for example, tilting their heads to the right rather than kissing on the left.

There are several theories about the causes.

Researchers from the Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), the Heinrich Heine University of Dusseldorf and the Victoria University of Wellington, have collected in a review article in the journal "Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews" existing data, on the basis of which they review the theories.

As the RUB says in a statement, the team of Privatdozent Dr. Sebastian Ocklenburg and Julian Packheiser from the Bochum department of biopsychology, that the observed results can not be explained solely by whether someone is right-handed or left-handed.

It does matter, but it also depends on the emotional context.

Left shift in emotional situations

"People generally have a preference to tilt their heads to the right when kissing, to initiate a right-hand embrace, and to weigh babies in their left arms," ​​explains Julian Packheiser.

Kissing and hugging assume that humans have a dominant leadership hand with which to initiate the movement.

In weighing, so the theory goes, the dominant hand is kept free to do other things while holding the child.

"Since social contact is often associated with a movement of the hands, it is obvious to assume that handedness has an influence on the side preference," says Sebastian Ocklenburg.

In their review, the scientists list numerous studies that demonstrate an influence of handedness. However, this alone can not explain the page preferences; the emotional context also plays a role.

"In emotional situations, the page preference shifts to the left," says Packheiser. "Regardless of whether they are positive or negative emotions."

So preference does not matter if two people hug each other because they are looking forward to seeing each other again or because one wants to comfort the other.

Emotions are processed asymmetrically in the brain

The researchers explain the left shift in emotional compared to neutral situations with the fact that emotions are processed primarily in the right hemisphere, which controls the movements of the left half of the body.

"There is clear evidence that motor and emotional networks in the brain interact and are closely interconnected," says Ocklenburg.

Not only behavioral data from social contact studies speak for the theory of right-hemispheric emotion processing, but also results from neuro-physiological and neuro-physiological studies.

Thus, according to the authors, the asymmetry in human social contact is best explained by a combination of motor preferences and right-hemispheric emotional dominance. (Ad)