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Wikipedia actually has a note on the evolution of kissing. They point out that there are grooming behaviors such as licking and social behaviors like dogs touching noses in many species even insects. They note that it is not decided at all whether kissing is learned or from some sort of instinct. They also mention that its reminiscent of feeding behavior ...

I recommend this article: The Evolution and Functions of Laughter and Humor: A Synthetic Approach by M Gervais and DS Wilson, 2005, University of Chicago Press. For your question about the origin, firstly they explain that all laughter is induced by stimuli which are unexpected or unpredictable, experienced in a non-serious (unthreatening, safe) context. ...

Yes, there is a biological basis. Your examples seem a little social/cultural to me, though. In any case, here are some examples I came across. One study that showed that women's hormones rose in response to smelling male sweat. There's also a large psychological component that, for example, shows people find symmetry important in beauty. A review ...

The biggest problem with this question, (not just here, but for everyone who asks it,) is drawing on our culturally constructed definition of maleness to look for mechanisms of genetic inheritance of what are considered "male" traits. We could measure frequency distributions of height, but we don't have a way to accurately probe any of the other qualities ...

At least for physical data (heigth, weight etc) you can have a look of the DINED Anthropometric database http://dined.io.tudelft.nl/dined/. Here you can find mean and standard deviation data for Dutch population studies on numerous anthropometric measures, and you can stratify the results by sex.

First of all for the first 22 chromosomes (and the mitochondrial chromsome) are the same between women and men. The X and the Y together are something like 1.5% of the total DNA in the human cell. The X chromosome is also in common, so it has the same chromosomal (genetic) variations the same as women and men. While I am not sure about the differences you ...

Aldridge et al. (2011) show a correlation between facial phenotypes and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in a sample of 8-12 year old boys. They studied two groups of boys, 65 that had been diagnosed with ASD and 41 who had not. They collected 3D images of the faces and looked for similar patterns among the two groups. They found a significant association ...

Assuming that our emotions are the psychological manifestations of chemical changes in our bodies (an assumption I have no trouble with but one that others may take umbrage at), any emotion will be different. If your brain can distinguish between two emotions, then the underlying chemistry through which these emotions are expressed will be different. This ...

Using the Triarchic Theory of Love proposed by Robert Sternberg, love is divided into three components: Intimacy Passion Commitment Using the theory's particular Infatuation is just the passion portion of love which is lacking in intimacy and commitment required for Consummate Love or True Love. Physiologically speaking, this is when a certain sense of ...

As the comments suggest, I think a little basic reading so you understand the definitions involved here might be appropriate. The questions are a bit anthocentric, and I think that's why folks with a bit more biological culture might be concerned about the answers. Alpha type structures can be found in all sorts of animals. Sperm competition, where many ...

Cytokines are essentially signalling molecules of the immune system. Broadly speaking these can be classed as pro- or anti-inflammatory. Pro-inflammatory cytokines promote inflammation, and anti-inflammatory cytokines inhibit inflammation. Inflammation (again, broadly speaking) is associated with the 'innate' immune response - this is the immediate response ...

So, this is psychological attachment. From the question alone, I thought of physical attachment. If you provide stuffed animals and human children, then I'd offer the television remote, a chair/sofa and the cellphone for human adults. In general, many adults are far too sedentary for their own health. Some non-human primates have exhibited behavior similar ...

There are many signalling molecules used by the human body that have a different effect depending on the cell type. My guess is that serotonin causes these different effects in different neurons. So, while serotonin is capable of promoting feelings of arousal and sleepiness, the two do not necessarily go together. If you look into this more deeply you will ...