What scientific research has to say about why people close their eyes when they kiss

By: Carlos Glick

A couple kissing. Credit: http://www.b4blaze.in

Have you ever thought to yourself: why do people tend to close their eyes when they’re kissing? Well, let us dive deeper into this topic to figure it out!

According to independent.co.uk, psychologists have said that people close their eyes while kissing to allow the brain to properly focus on the task at hand. A study on vision and tactile experience, at the University of London, concluded that the brain finds it difficult to process another sense while also concentrating on the visual stimuli. 

Cognitive psychologists Polly Dalton and Sandra Murphy found “tactile, sense of touch, awareness depends on the level of perceptual load in a concurrent visual task.” 

Here’s an interesting fact: when kissing and engaging in other activities pleasurable to the tactile sense (such as sex and dancing), people want to focus on touch, rather than other potential distracting, sensory experiences. 

Another source chimes in on this topic, regarding multiple stimuli in the brain. When kissing someone, we are focusing on the actions which result in closing our eyes. 

According to this article, they’ve said, “In other words, we can’t possibly keep our eyes open during a kiss, because our brains can’t process both visual and sensory stimuli.”

During an intimate moment, “people tend to close their eyes to process the experience without the visual portions of it distracting them. Thus, the same logic goes for kissing as well.” 

“When you kiss someone, you probably don’t think too much about closing your eyes; it just happens, right? You both feel the sparks flying, so you lean in for the kiss with your eyes open, but somewhere between locking eyes and locking lips, you shut your eyes. This happens involuntarily, whether you want it to or not.” 

I’ll add in my own experience on this topic. In all my experience kissing girls, I don’t ever remember one time when I had my eyes closed during a kiss.

However, I can say this: the last girl I kissed was less than two years ago, while I was attending Kingsborough Community College. Every time we would kiss, she would always have her eyes closed, while I would always have my eyes opened.

 I mean I would find it weird having my eyes closed, so I just keep my eyes open.

The next time you kiss your lover and you have your eyes closed, keep in mind these concepts before you kiss or even after you kiss. If you want to read more about this, click here to dive deeper into the thought-provoking study and research.