Some people are more comfortable with engaging in a public display of affection than others. There are those who are as quick to make out with their SO on the train as they are in the bedroom, and then there are those who wouldn't be caught dead even holding hands in the park—and loathe when they catch others canoodling. A study in The Journal of Sex Research reveals some of the biggest differences between these people.
University of Kansas researchers asked 349 primarily straight college students, ages 17-35, about their engagement in PDA and the reasons behind it. Most students actually hadn't participated: Only 37 percent of men and 32 percent of women had made out in public. The authors used a super specific definition though—"kissing on the mouth, with or without the use of tongues, and fondling breasts and buttocks"—so that could explain it. As for those who had engaged in this form of PDA, they were surprisingly honest about their motives, which were not as lovey-dovey as some people might let on.
The number one reason people showed PDA was "to enhance their image or status by proving they were capable of making out with a particular person." Others wanted to broadcast their love to the world, some were doing it for the thrill of breaking a taboo, and a few didn't really care where they were—they just wanted to make out and happened to be out in the open.
What it meant to "enhance their image" was gender-dependent, though. Guys wanted to look like studs, with one even mentioning his "bros" and his yearning for them to believe "I myself was a bro" and accept him "into a new state of brodom." Women, on the other hand, were more likely to kiss for men's entertainment—seven out of the 13 women who had made out with another woman in public cited this reason—or to provoke jealousy. One wanted to be other women's object of envy, and another said she was trying to make her ex jealous. And, of course, some women didn't engage in a public display of affection for fear of backlash, saying they shied away from so as not to appear "slutty."
Psychologist Nicole Martinez told Broadly that this desire for our relationships to be seen in a positive light could also explain why couples are always posting photos of each other and professing their love via social media (though, FYI, those couples are more likely to stay together, so this may not be a bad thing).
None of this is to say, however, that there's anything wrong with kissing under the mistletoe this Christmas—even if it's partially because you want to show you've got someone to kiss.
