@article {308328, title = {Is the Romantic{\textendash}Sexual Kiss a Near Human Universal?}, journal = {American Anthropologist}, volume = {117}, year = {2015}, month = {07/2015}, pages = {535-39}, chapter = {535}, abstract = {

Scholars from a wide range of human social and behavioral sciences have become interested in the romantic{\textendash}sexual kiss. This research, and its public dissemination, often includes statements about the ubiquity of kissing, particularly romantic{\textendash}sexual kissing, across cultures. Yet, to date there is no evidence to support or reject this claim. Employing standard cross-cultural methods, this research report is the first attempt to use a large sample set (eHRAF World Cultures, SCCS, and a selective ethnographer survey) to document the presence or absence of the romantic{\textendash}sexual kiss (n\ = 168 cultures). We defined\ romantic{\textendash}sexual kissing\ as lip-to-lip contact that may or may not be prolonged. Despite frequent depictions of kissing in a wide range of material culture, we found no evidence that the romantic{\textendash}sexual kiss is a human universal or even a near universal. The romantic{\textendash}sexual kiss was present in a minority of cultures sampled (46\%). Moreover, there is a strong correlation between the frequency of the romantic{\textendash}sexual kiss and a society{\textquoteright}s relative social complexity: the more socially complex the culture, the higher frequency of romantic{\textendash}sexual kissing.

}, doi = {10.1111/aman.12286}, url = {http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/aman.12286/abstract}, author = {Jankowiak, W. and Volsche, S. and Garcia, J.} }