@Resonantscythe Shying away from contact with someone Is body language for suggesting that person is unclean, and therefore worth avoiding. So it could be accidentally taken as a comment on a person’s approachability. it would be nice if that would change.
With my SO I am not worried about his germs, I live with him, kiss him, have sex with him, and I trust him to tell me if he feels like he is coming down with a cold. I might air kiss my husband if I had bunches of make-up on all dressed up.
You talk of affection, but many times kissing, shaking hands, hugs, are a greeting. I used to kiss everyone in my x-boyfriends family because that’s what they did. Half of the people I barely knew. When I worked in Bloomingdale’s some of my customers kissed me when they saw me. I mean, I liked them, had a rapport with them, happy to see them, but I was not friends with them outside of work. In other parts of the country this would be very unusual.