The right way to kiss: directionality bias in head-turning during kissing

Abstract Humans have a bias for turning to the right in a number of settings. Here we document a bias in head-turning to the right in adult humans, as tested in the act of kissing. We investigated head-turning bias in both kiss initiators and kiss recipients for lip kissing, and took into considerat...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: A. K. M. Rezaul Karim, Michael J. Proulx, Alexandra A. de Sousa, Chhanda Karmaker, Arifa Rahman, Fahria Karim, Naima Nigar
Format: article
Language:EN
Published: Nature Portfolio 2017
Subjects:
R
Q
Online Access:https://doaj.org/article/4f1e3671f3cb4b12be1c8bc48e655c97
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract Humans have a bias for turning to the right in a number of settings. Here we document a bias in head-turning to the right in adult humans, as tested in the act of kissing. We investigated head-turning bias in both kiss initiators and kiss recipients for lip kissing, and took into consideration differences due to sex and handedness, in 48 Bangladeshi heterosexual married couples. We report a significant male bias in the initiation of kissing and a significant bias in head-turning to the right in both kiss initiators and kiss recipients, with a tendency among kiss recipients to match their partners’ head-turning direction. These interesting outcomes are explained by the influences of societal learning or cultural norms and the potential neurophysiological underpinnings which together offer novel insights about the mechanisms underlying behavioral laterality in humans.