Kissing in Marital and Cohabiting Relationships: Effects on Blood Lipids, Stress, and Relationship Satisfaction

TLDR

Affectionate behavior is theorized to reduce stress, according to affection exchange theory and prior studies. The study aimed to test whether increasing affectionate behavior would improve stress‑related physical and psychological outcomes. Fifty‑two healthy adults in marital or cohabiting relationships were randomized to a 6‑week intervention that instructed increased kissing or no instruction, with self‑report and blood lipid measures taken before and after. The intervention group showed reduced perceived stress, higher relationship satisfaction, and lower total serum cholesterol compared to controls.

Abstract

Affection exchange theory and previous research suggest that affectionate behavior has stress-ameliorating effects. On this basis, we hypothesized that increasing affectionate behavior would effect improvements in physical and psychological conditions known to be exacerbated by stress. This study tested this proposition by examining the effects of increased romantic kissing on blood lipids, perceived stress, depression, and relationship satisfaction. Fifty-two healthy adults who were in marital or cohabiting romantic relationships provided self-report data for psychological outcomes and blood samples for hematological tests, and were then randomly assigned to experimental and control groups for a 6-week trial. Those in the experimental group were instructed to increase the frequency of romantic kissing in their relationships; those in the control group received no such instructions. After 6 weeks, psychological and hematological tests were repeated. Relative to the control group, the experimental group experienced improvements in perceived stress, relationship satisfaction, and total serum cholesterol.