Secret to a healthier long- term relationship? The answer will surprise you.

Why do we kiss? So for a long time now, scientists interested in human behavior have pushed out one theory after another on why people kiss. Apart from the fun, is there any other benefit?

Robin Dunbar, lead researcher of a study done at the University of Oxford finds that "men are more likely to initiate kissing before sex, when it might be used for arousal purposes, whereas women are more likely to initiate kissing after sex, where it might better serve a relationship maintenance function."

He also noted that mate courtship is complex but kissing is an act performed by most of the world. Only 10 percent of the population worldwide does not consider kissing a common practice.

To get the data for this research, Robin Dunbar's research partner, Rafael Wlodarski, posted a questionnaire on an online repository for psychology studies. 900 people in about 20 countries but mostly in the U.S. and the U.K. responded to questions about how they value kissing in various romantic situations.

Wlodarksi concluded from the response that men and women value kissing for different reasons. "Men are more likely to initiate kissing before sex, when it might be used for arousal purposes, whereas women are more likely to initiate kissing after sex, where it might better serve a relationship maintenance function."

A lot of good kissing was associated with a better relationship and satisfaction with the amount of sex. Lots of sex, however, wasn't related to the quality of the relationship. "There seems to be something special about kissing," Wlodarksi notes.

Wlodarksi also found that, overall, women rated kissing as more important than men did. Women were also more likely than men to feel a change in attraction after a first kiss. Long-term partners said kissing was more important than did those in short-term relationships.

An even more interesting finding was that, "lots of kissing was associated with a satisfying and ultimately healthy long-term relationship."

What do you think? Is kissing alone a significant factor to determine if your relationship is healthy or not and will tide you in the long run?When kissing is missing between a couple, does that mean theirs is an unhealthy relationship?