Maybe the measurement of intimacy correlates to how much you are willing to share geerrm with the partner. Personally, I think kissing should be like hugging and it’s ok for friends to do it. The reason why kissing got such a high status may be because it is potentially possible to exchange germs..and if you dont’ trust the person you’re kissing or don’t love the person includening his/her germs, you don’t wanna share geerrms with him/her by kissing whereas hugging has a lower risk of sharing geerrmms, so it’s more common…

I probably was in an OCD mood when I came with this thought.