No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
He sees, she smells? Male and female reports of sensory reliance in mate choice and non-mate choice contexts
Abstract
Men and women differ in the importance that they ascribe to the characters of a potential mate. Previous work has shown that women rate olfactory cues as more important than men in mate choice. We investigated whether this sex difference (a) is specific to the mate choice context; (b) is reliant upon sexual experience; and (c) exhibits cross-cultural differences between the US (previous study) and the Czech Republic (current study). A questionnaire on the importance of particular senses in different situations was administered to 717 Czech high school students. We replicated existing findings of greater reliance on olfactory cues by women, and of visual cues by men, both for partner choice and during sexual arousal. We also found that women valued olfactory cues significantly more than men in non-sexual contexts. Principal components analysis showed that responses could be grouped by both context and sensory modality. There was no apparent influence of sexual experience on sensory reliance. Cultural differences were also evident: the Czech high school students of our sample rated body odors more positively, and were less visually oriented, than the US university students of previous work.
... Visual input is not the only information humans perceive when selecting a mate. On the contrary, recent evidence suggests that attractiveness is multimodal, and voice and scent also influence mate choice decisions (Havlíček et al., 2008;Mahmut & Croy, 2019;White & Cunningham, 2017;Groyecka et al., 2017). ...
... Not only the voice, but also the scent of a potential partner might be used as a cue when it comes to partner choice (Havlíček et al., 2008;Mahmut & Croy, 2019;White & Cunningham, 2017). Importantly, humans use scent to extract an impressive amount of information relevant for mate choice, such as sex, dominance, fertility, health, and genetic compatibility Lobmaier et al., 2018;Roberts et al., 2008). ...
... Importantly, humans use scent to extract an impressive amount of information relevant for mate choice, such as sex, dominance, fertility, health, and genetic compatibility Lobmaier et al., 2018;Roberts et al., 2008). Interestingly, smell might be more important for women than for men (Havlíček et al., 2008). Previous research on olfactory preferences of men have mainly focused on genetic compatibility (e.g., Roberts et al., 2008) and ovulatory shi e ects (e.g., Lobmaier et al., 2018), while the contribution of olfactory attractiveness in male mate choice has remained relatively unexplored. ...
... Thus, whether attractiveness ratings of isolated vocal samples predict date success remains to be examined. Not only the voice, but also the scent of a potential partner might be used as a cue when it comes to partner choice (Havlíček et al., 2008;Mahmut & Croy, 2019;White & Cunningham, 2017). Importantly, humans use scent to extract an impressive amount of information relevant for mate choice, such as sex, dominance, fertility, health, and genetic compatibility (Groyecka et al., 2017;Lobmaier, Fischbacher, Wirthmüller, & Knoch, 2018;Roberts, Gosling, Carter, & Petrie, 2008). ...
... Importantly, humans use scent to extract an impressive amount of information relevant for mate choice, such as sex, dominance, fertility, health, and genetic compatibility (Groyecka et al., 2017;Lobmaier, Fischbacher, Wirthmüller, & Knoch, 2018;Roberts, Gosling, Carter, & Petrie, 2008). Interestingly, smell might be more important for women than for men (Havlíček et al., 2008). Previous research on olfactory preferences of men have mainly focused on genetic compatibility (e.g., Roberts et al., 2008) and ovulatory shift effects (e.g., Lobmaier et al., 2018), while the contribution of olfactory attractiveness in male mate choice has remained relatively unexplored. ...
... Interestingly, the relationship that we found for women was negative: they were less likely to want to go on another date with men whose smell they rated as attractive. This direction of the effect is surprising given previous evidence suggesting that scent plays an important role in mate selection for women (Havlíček et al., 2008). It is unclear why this effect might have occurred. ...
When people meet a potential partner for the first time, they are confronted with multiple sources of information, encompassing different modalities, that they can use to determine whether this partner is suitable for them or not. While visual attractiveness has widely been studied with regard to partner choice, olfactory and auditory cues have received less attention, even though they might influence the attitudes that people have towards their partner. Therefore, in this study, we employed a combination of pre-date multimodal rating tasks followed by speed-date sessions. This offered a naturalistic setup to study partner choice and disentangle the relative effects of a priori attractiveness ratings of sight, scent and sound on date success. Visual attractiveness ratings showed a strong positive correlation with propensity to meet the partner again, while the effects of olfactory and auditory attractiveness were negligible or not robust. Furthermore, we found no robust sex differences in the importance of the three modalities. Our findings underscore the relative importance of visual attractiveness in initial mate choice, but do not corroborate the idea that static pre-date measures of auditory and olfactory attractiveness can predict first date outcomes.
... Indeed, in sighted individuals, sex differences for the importance of different sensory cues have already been reported previously. Two studies, conducted in the USA and the Czech Republic, showed that men considered vision the most important sense for mate choice, whereas women rated olfaction as the most important sense (Havlíček et al., 2008;Herz & Inzlicht, 2002). The heightened importance of odor for women in particular might be ascribed to the role odor plays in determining genetic quality and compatibility (Havlíček & Roberts, 2009). ...
... The heightened importance of odor for women in particular might be ascribed to the role odor plays in determining genetic quality and compatibility (Havlíček & Roberts, 2009). Yet, women also place greater importance on olfactory cues in social contexts that are not related to mate choice, potentially relating to offspring identification and food acquisition (Havlíček et al., 2008). Therefore, it remains unclear whether mate choice is driving the aforementioned sex differences. ...
... Sex differences were detected only for visual cues. As expected, visual cues were most important for sighted males, perhaps because they provide more direct information about a partner's age and fertility than auditory information arising from voice (Buss, 2006;Havlíček et al., 2008;Moyse, 2014). Visual cues were less important for blind males, probably because they could not be directly assessed and therefore do not offer useful information. ...
Cross-cultural research has repeatedly demonstrated sex differences in the importance of partner characteristics when choosing a mate. Men typically report higher preferences for younger, more physically attractive women, while women typically place more importance on a partner’s status and wealth. As the assessment of such partner characteristics often relies on visual cues, this raises the question whether visual experience is necessary for sex-specific mate preferences to develop. To shed more light onto the emergence of sex differences in mate choice, the current study assessed how preferences for attractiveness, resources, and personality factors differ between sighted and blind individuals using an online questionnaire. We further investigate the role of social factors and sensory cue selection in these sex differences. Our sample consisted of 94 sighted and blind participants with different ages of blindness onset: 19 blind/28 sighted males and 19 blind/28 sighted females. Results replicated well-documented findings in the sighted, with men placing more importance on physical attractiveness and women placing more importance on status and resources. However, while physical attractiveness was less important to blind men, blind women considered physical attractiveness as important as sighted women. The importance of a high status and likeable personality was not influenced by sightedness. Blind individuals considered auditory cues more important than visual cues, while sighted males showed the opposite pattern. Further, relationship status and indirect, social influences were related to preferences. Overall, our findings shed light on the availability of visual information for the emergence of sex differences in mate preference.
... This gender-related difference is attributed to hormonal exposure (Doty & Cameron, 2009;Koelega & Köster, 1974), the increased presence of odorous sensations during female-stereotyped activities (Nováková, Varella Valentova, & Havlíček, 2014), or an overall higher chemosensory sensitivity and memory for odors in women (Doty & Cameron, 2009;Sorokowski et al., 2019). Women indeed report greater odor awareness and interest in odors (Havlicek et al., 2008;Seo et al., 2011;Sorokowska et al., 2018), and on average, also seem to value olfaction more than men (Croy, Buschhüter, Seo, Negoias, & Hummel, 2010). Women more frequently notice odors in their environment as compared to men . ...
... Our data show that similarly to OAS (Smeets et al., 2008), women on average score higher in OAS-6 than men. This finding is in line with research demonstrating overall superior olfactory performance in women as compared to men (Doty & Cameron, 2009;Sorokowski et al., 2019), their increased interest and importance of odors (Croy et al., 2010;Havlicek et al., 2008;Seo et al., 2011;Sorokowska et al., 2018), as well as greater attention to odors . Interestingly, our data reveals remarkable variation in OAS scores within gender groups. ...
... As presented in Table 7, there were significant differences (p < 0.05) in liking scores between male and female panelists in aroma, texture, and aftertaste, with the female panelists rating those attributes significantly higher than males. Females have been noted to have a higher perception of and sensitivity to smell and taste than males impacting their meal choice and intensity ratings (Havlicek et al., 2008). This is due to females having more fungiform papillae than their male counterparts (Bartoshuk et al., 1994). ...
... This is due to females having more fungiform papillae than their male counterparts (Bartoshuk et al., 1994). Males tend not to rely heavily on aroma but on visual attributes in their meal choice and liking scores (Havlicek et al., 2008). This is evident in the findings (Table 7), where males reported a lower aroma liking score when compared to females. ...
Stevia is an emerging natural high‐intensity sweetener. There are negative perceptions of zero‐calorie sweeteners, but studies that provide knowledge of these sweeteners improve their perception. This study evaluated consumer acceptability of a zero‐sugar bakery product under blind and informed conditions (n = 96) along with physicochemical analysis of the products. Rebaudioside A (Reb A) and the new types of stevia (Rebs D and M) with sugar as a control were used to formulate pound cakes. Panelists evaluated the overall hedonic impressions (aroma, texture, flavor, and aftertaste) and intensity (sweetness and bitterness) of the cakes under blind and informed conditions with an enforced 2‐week break between evaluations. During the informed session, a document was provided prior to evaluating samples that included stevia's health benefits and the nutritional facts panels for the cakes. The cakes underwent volatile profile (electronic nose [e‐nose]) and water activity (aw) analysis. Overall, stevia cakes showed an increase in flavor and texture liking during the informed session when compared to the blind session, but only Reb A showed a significant difference (p < 0.05). The increase in liking scores indicated that information positively affected the consumer's perception of the stevia‐sweetened cakes attributes. The e‐nose confirmed differences in aroma. There was a significant difference in aw of the samples Rebs A, D, M versus sucrose (p < 0.05). No significant differences were observed among the Rebs (p > 0.05). This study illustrates that stevia, despite non‐browning or fermenting, can be used in a practical baking application, and product‐related information impacts consumer acceptability.
Practical Application
This study demonstrates that product‐related information may have an impact on the consumer acceptability of the product. Through potential labeling improvements, overall consumer perception and acceptability of zero‐sugar added or low‐sugar products could be improved. This study also illustrates that stevia, despite being a non‐browning or fermenting sugar alternative, can be used in a practical baking application.
... Olfactory cues are also considered to moderate mate selection because they may help to prevent inbreeding (Weisfeld et al., 2003) and possibly aid in selecting heterozygous mates (Lübke & Pause, 2015;Winternitz et al., 2017). The sense of smell may also uniquely influence sexual desire and sexual arousal in both men and women (Havlicek et al., 2008;Herz & Inzlicht, 2002;Lübke & Pause, 2015). Body odors provide chemical signals that convey information on physical attraction (Lübke & Pause, 2015;Roberts et al., 2011;Thornhill et al., 2013). ...
... More importantly, these correlations were consistent across sexes and cultures. Our findings regarding differences between men and women in the importance of olfaction are consistent with those of previous studies, which also found that women placed more value on olfaction and odors than did men in both sexual and non-sexual contexts (Croy et al., 2010;Havlicek et al., 2008;Herz & Cahill, 1997, 2002. Women also presented higher prevalence of body odor sniffing. ...
Olfactory sensations contribute to sexual desire and sexual behavior. However, the degree to which individual importance of olfactory function and body odors relate to sexual desire is not known. This study was conducted to preliminarily examine these relationships among Chinese college students (N = 1903) via the Importance of Olfaction Questionnaire, the Body Odor Sniffing Questionnaire, and the Sexual Desire Inventory, which were used to measure subjective significance of olfaction, frequency of sniffing self or others, and sexual desire, respectively. Individuals who assigned higher importance to olfaction or engaged more in body odor sniffing showed stronger sexual desire. We further explored these associations in different cultures to determine whether cultural consistency existed. We conducted a second study to make cross-cultural comparisons between Indian (N = 313) and US (N = 249) populations. For both countries, a higher importance placed on olfaction and a higher prevalence of body odor sniffing were consistently associated with stronger sexual desire. In conclusion, our study confirmed that people who placed more value on olfactory function or engaged more in body odor sniffing showed stronger sexual desire. These correlations were consistent for both sexes and across different cultures, further indicating the importance of olfaction in sexuality.
... This gender variation is also in line with women's superior olfactory function. It has been found that women pay more attention to olfaction or odor [15,17]. Women not only show higher olfactory sensitivity [38] but also are more susceptible to olfactory problems than men [13]. ...
... As the number of olfactory neurons declines with age, the elderly have inferior olfactory function to the young, which might affect their body odor sniffing behaviors [10,21]. Besides, body odor plays a significant role in partner choice [23,47] and sexual interest and arousal [15,17,18]. From an evolutionary perspective, young people have greater needs for mate selection and reproduction, and thus may use more body odor cues compared to older people. ...
Objectives
Body odor can convey much information about an individual and thus we frequently engage in sniffing one's own and other people's body odor. However, there is scarce evidence on the within- and cross-cultural variation in body odor sniffing behaviors and no psychometric scale for specifically measuring such behaviors. Hence, our study aimed to develop the Body Odor Sniffing Questionnaire (BOSQ) and used it to make a cross-cultural comparison.
Methods
In Study 1, 2,026 participants were recruited from our university, with one half used for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to examine the factor structure of the BOSQ (sample 1) and the other half used for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to verify the factor structure (sample 2). In Study 2, 352 Chinese and 254 US participants were recruited to complete the BOSQ through Wenjuanxing and Amazon Mechanical Turk, enabling comparison of body odor sniffing behaviors across two cultures.
Results
The Study 1 results showed that the BOSQ comprises 17 items in three factors: self-private body odor, others’ body odor, and self-common body odor. The CFA results further supported that this three-factor model was a good fit. The Study 2 results showed that US participants scored higher overall and on the self-private body odor and others’ body odor dimensions, whereas Chinese participants scored higher on the self-common body odor dimension.
Conclusions
The BOSQ demonstrated good reliability and validity, which is a useful tool for evaluating individuals’ body odor sniffing behaviors. Cross-cultural difference existed as the US population reported a higher prevalence of body odor sniffing behavior, compared to the Chinese population.
... Finally, in line with previous literature (e.g., Croy et al., 2010; Ferdenzi et al., 2008;Havlicek et al., 2008;Seo et al., 2011), women appeared to be more attentive and reactive to odors, to show a higher interest in the sense of smell, and to report a higher awareness toward social odors than men. Indeed, it is documented that women present higher olfactory abilities (Doty and Cameron, 2009), intensified neural processing of social odors (Pause et al., 2010), as well as higher odor awareness (Ferdenzi et al., 2008), higher interest in the sense of smell (Seo et al., 2011), and higher importance of olfaction Havlicek et al., 2008). ...
... Finally, in line with previous literature (e.g., Croy et al., 2010; Ferdenzi et al., 2008;Havlicek et al., 2008;Seo et al., 2011), women appeared to be more attentive and reactive to odors, to show a higher interest in the sense of smell, and to report a higher awareness toward social odors than men. Indeed, it is documented that women present higher olfactory abilities (Doty and Cameron, 2009), intensified neural processing of social odors (Pause et al., 2010), as well as higher odor awareness (Ferdenzi et al., 2008), higher interest in the sense of smell (Seo et al., 2011), and higher importance of olfaction Havlicek et al., 2008). Likewise, attention and imagery of odors have been found to increase with age. ...
Background
Diminished olfactory functioning has been reported in depression, whereas evidence in anxiety disorders is still controversial. Olfactory meta-cognitive abilities (i.e., olfactory awareness, imagery and reactivity, and the importance of odors) are essential in shaping olfaction. Few studies examined these meta-cognitive abilities in relation to depressive, anxiety, and social anxiety symptoms, and none of them considered the awareness of social odors (i.e., body odors).
Methods
This pre-registered study examined the relationship between olfactory meta-cognitive abilities and symptoms of depression, general anxiety, and social anxiety in 429 individuals. Self-report measures of symptoms of depression, general anxiety, and social anxiety, along with self-report olfactory meta-cognitive scales, were collected using an online survey.
Results
Linear regression analyses revealed that olfactory awareness and importance of common odors were significantly directly predicted by symptoms of general anxiety, while affective importance to odors was negatively predicted by symptoms of depression. Regarding social odors, higher symptoms of depression and lower symptoms of social anxiety predicted increased awareness.
Limitations
Higher prevalence of women and narrow age range of the participants. Depressive and anxiety symptoms were assessed only with self-report questionnaires.
Conclusions
Symptoms of anxiety seem to be associated with higher levels of common odor awareness, corroborating the importance of olfactory functions in anxiety. In addition, results on social odors seem to reflect dysfunctional social behaviour that characterized symptoms of depression and social anxiety. Hence, the assessment of meta-cognitive abilities may represent a useful tool in the prevention and assessment of depressive, anxiety, and social anxiety symptoms.
... By reviewing the previous literature on social odors and the existing olfactory scales [2, 21-23] we could identify four types of social odors that occur in individuals' everyday life. First, romantic partner odor: social odors play an important role in mate selection by affecting desirability [10,[26][27][28] with this process being only partially subconscious, as both men and women seem aware of using odors in their mate choice [29]. Second, odors of familiars or significant others: these social odors provide a feeling of security and familiarity and help the relationship maintenance [30][31][32][33][34]. Familiar social odors include odors from significant others, family members, and friends [16, 18,[35][36][37]. ...
... This result is in line with studies showing a gender difference in various metacognitive abilities related to odors. For instance, women reported higher odor awareness [72], higher interest in the sense of smell [75], and higher importance of olfaction [21,29] than male. This is in addition to an overall better olfactory performance [76]. ...
The degree of attention individuals pay to olfactory cues (called odor awareness) influences the role of odors in everyday life. Particularly, odors produced by the human body (i.e., social odors) are able to carry a wide variety of information and to elicit a broad spectrum of emotional reactions, making them essential in interpersonal relationships. Hence, despite the assessment of awareness toward social odors is crucial, a proper tool is still lacking. Here, we designed and initially validated the Social Odor Scale (SOS), a 12-item scale designed to measure the individual differences in awareness towards different social odors. In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA; KMO test: MSA = 0.78; Bartlett’s test: χ²(78) = 631.34, p < 0.001; Chi-squared test: χ²(42) = 71.84, p = 0.003) suggests that the three factors structure was the model that best fit with the Italian version of the scale. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supports a second-order model with one higher-order factor representing social odor awareness in general and three lower-order factors representing familiar, romantic partner, and stranger social odors. The final version of the scale presented a good fit (RMSEA = 0.012, SRMR = 0.069, CFI = 0.998, TLI = 0.997). In Study 2, CFA was performed in the German version of the scale confirming the validity of scale structure. Study 3 and 4 revealed that SOS total score and its subscales were positively correlated with other validated olfactory scales, but not with olfactory abilities. Moreover, SOS was found to be related to the gender of the participants: women reported to be more aware to social odors and, specifically, to familiar social odors than men. Overall, the results indicated that SOS is a valid and reliable instrument to assess awareness toward social odors in everyday life.
... To increase the sensitivity of detection of possible effects, we recruited only female raters. This is because on average, women achieve higher scores on various aspects of olfactory perception (for a review, see Brand and Millot, 2001) and they tend to place higher importance on body odor when choosing a potential partner (Havlicek et al., 2008). Participation criteria were good respiratory health and no use of hormonal contraception. ...
... In future studies, we recommend using less common vaccines in order to facilitate recruitment of naive participants. Similar, to most body odor studies, we recruited only female raters to Study 1, because they tend to place higher importance on body odor when choosing romantic partners (Havlicek et al., 2008). In Study 2, we included body odor donors and raters of both sexes. ...
Previous studies have shown that women perceive male faces with a more reactive immune system as more attractive, but whether body odor might likewise provide cues to immune function has not been investigated yet. These two studies tested a possible relationship between body odor quality and immunoreactivity (Study 1) and immune system function (Study 2).
In Study 1, we collected body odor samples from 21 men just before and two weeks after vaccination against hepatitis A/B and meningococcus. We determined the levels of specific antibodies (selected as markers of immune system’s reactivity), testosterone, and cortisol. Subsequently, 88 female raters assessed the samples for their attractiveness, intensity, and healthiness. In Study 2, we collected body odor and blood samples from 35 men and women. We assessed key parameters of their innate and adaptive immunity, such as complement activity or total lymphocyte T and B counts and asked 95 raters to assess the samples for their attractiveness, intensity, and healthiness.
In Study 1, we found no significant association between antibody levels induced by vaccination and perceived body odor attractiveness, intensity, and healthiness. We also found no significant relationship between antibody levels and steroid hormones (testosterone and cortisol). In Study 2, we likewise found no association between basal key parameters (innate and adaptive) of the immune system and body odor quality. Our results indicate that body odor does not serve as a cue to the reactivity of the immune system.
... By reviewing the previous literature on social odors and the existing olfactory scales [2, 21-23] we could identify four types of social odors that occur in individuals' everyday life. First, romantic partner odor: social odors play an important role in mate selection by affecting desirability [10,[26][27][28] with this process being only partially subconscious, as both men and women seem aware of using odors in their mate choice [29]. Second, odors of familiars or significant others: these social odors provide a feeling of security and familiarity and help the relationship maintenance [30][31][32][33][34]. Familiar social odors include odors from significant others, family members, and friends [16, 18,[35][36][37]. ...
... This result is in line with studies showing a gender difference in various metacognitive abilities related to odors. For instance, women reported higher odor awareness [72], higher interest in the sense of smell [75], and higher importance of olfaction [21,29] than male. This is in addition to an overall better olfactory performance [76]. ...
The degree of attention individuals pay to olfactory cues (called odor awareness) influence the role of odors in everyday life. Particularly, odors produced by the human body (i.e., social odors) are able to carry a wide variety of information and to elicit a broad spectrum of emotional reactions, making them essential in interpersonal relationships. Hence, despite the assessment of awareness toward social odors is crucial, a proper tool is still lacking. Here, we designed and validated the Social Odor Scale (SOS), a measure to assess the individual differences in awareness towards different social odors. In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) supports the initially developed four factor structure of the Italian version of the scale. In Study 2, EFA was performed in the German version of the scale confirming the validity of scale structure. Finally, a confirmatory factor analysis (Study 4) corroborates the construct validity of the SOS and its subscales. Hence, the final version of SOS is composed of 16 items, four for each subscale: own, familiar, romantic partner, and stranger social odors. Study 3 and 4 revealed that SOS total score and its subscales were positively correlated with other validated olfactory scales, but not with olfactory abilities. Moreover, SOS was found to reflect the inter-individual variability that characterize social odor processing: SOS was related to age, gender and reproductive state of the participants. Overall, the results indicated that SOS is a valid and reliable instrument to assess awareness toward social odors in everyday life.
... Congruently with our results, a recent meta-analysis indeed suggests that women tend to have better odor discrimination performance in comparison with men (Sorokowski et al. 2019). These sex differences may be driven by a panoply of factors, including hormonal influences (Doty and Cameron 2009), expertise and odor awareness (Havlicek et al. 2008;Smeets et al. 2008), as well as social and cognitive factors (Sorokowski et al. 2019). For instance, women seem to rely and value more odor cues and have general higher odor awareness in comparison with men (Demattè et al. 2011;Havlicek et al. 2008). ...
... These sex differences may be driven by a panoply of factors, including hormonal influences (Doty and Cameron 2009), expertise and odor awareness (Havlicek et al. 2008;Smeets et al. 2008), as well as social and cognitive factors (Sorokowski et al. 2019). For instance, women seem to rely and value more odor cues and have general higher odor awareness in comparison with men (Demattè et al. 2011;Havlicek et al. 2008). This may reflect an advantage in odor discrimination, since they probably pay more attention to distinct odors and their features (Smeets et al. 2008), facilitating also important processes for this task, such as odor memory and learning (Arshamian et al. 2011). ...
Autism Spectrum Disorders, as well as autism traits (AT), have been associated with altered sensory processing. However, the role of AT in olfactory processing is still unclear. We analyzed the impact of AT and trait anxiety (TANX), relevant in the context of autism and olfactory perception, in the olfactory abilities of a nonclinical adult sample. Participants (N = 116) completed the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), the State-Trait Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety (STICSA) and the Sniffin’ Sticks Extended Test to measure AT, TANX and olfactory abilities, respectively. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis suggested that women and higher scores on the Attention to Detail subscale of AQ were associated with better odor discrimination, and higher somatic TANX was related to poorer odor discrimination.
... Nonetheless, when thoroughly (albeit still rarely) assessed, individuals in WEIRD societies show evidence of great attention and reactivity to body odours in communicative contexts (e.g. [42][43][44]). ...
... For example, women appear to be either less desensitized or more sensitized than men [65], probably because they are culturally induced to be more concerned by odour-related safety and cleanliness issues for themselves and those who depend on them [66], especially at certain stages of their reproductive career (e.g. mating, pregnancy, parenting) [44,67,68]. ...
Although anthropologists frequently report the centrality of odours in the daily lives and cultural beliefs of many small-scale communities, Western scholars have historically considered the sense of smell as minimally involved in human communication. Here, we suggest that the origin and persistence of this latter view might be a consequence of the fact that most research is conducted on participants from Western societies who, collectively, were rather old (adults), deodorized and desensitized (ODD) to various aspects of olfactory perception. The view is rapidly changing, however, and this themed issue provides a timely overview of the current state-of-the-art on human chemocommunication. Based on evolutionary models of communication, the papers cover both general mechanisms of odour production by ‘senders’ and odour perception by ‘receivers’. Focus on specific functional contexts includes reciprocal impact of odours between infants and mothers, the role of odour in mate choice and how odours communicate emotion and disease. Finally, a position paper outlines pitfalls and opportunities for the future, against the context of the replication crisis in psychology. We believe a more nuanced view of human chemical communication is within our grasp if we can continue to develop inter-disciplinary insights and expand research activities beyond ODD people.
This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Olfactory communication in humans’.
... Based on the literature on social odors, the SOS was structured in 3 low-order factors reflecting social odors in individuals' everyday life: romantic partner odor, significant for mate selection by affecting desirability (Havlicek et al. 2008;Havlicek and Roberts 2009;Roberts et al. 2011); familiar social odors (significant others, family members, and friends), as these odors provide a feeling of security and familiarity and help relationships maintenance (McBurney et al. 2006;Granqvist et al. 2018;Hofer et al. 2018;Mahmut and Croy 2019;Hofer and Chen 2020); and strangers' body odors, which can elicit a range of responses such as disgust (Olsson et al. 2014), happiness (de Groot et al. 2015), and fear-like responses (Lundström et al. 2008;Cecchetto et al. 2016;de Groot et al. 2021). Strangers' body odors are generally rated as more unpleasant and intense than a friend's body odor (Übel et al. 2017) but they also partake in mate selection (Sergeant et al. 2005), thus being attractive at least in some cases. ...
The Social Odor Scale (SOS) is a 12-item questionnaire initially developed and validated in Italian and German to investigate self-reported awareness of social odors, which are odors emanating from the human body that convey diverse information and evoke various emotional responses. The scale includes a total score and three subscales representing social odors in the respective categories: romantic partner, familiar, and strangers. Here, we aimed to (i) replicate the validation of the Italian and German versions of the SOS, (ii) translate and validate the SOS into multiple additional languages (French, English, Dutch, Swedish, Chinese), and (iii) explore whether the factor structure of each translated version aligns with the original versions. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) supported the scale’s structure, yielding a good fit across all languages. Notable differences in SOS mean scores were observed among the different languages: Swedish participants exhibited lower social odor awareness compared to the other groups, whereas Chinese participants reported higher social odor awareness compared to Dutch and Swedish participants. Furthermore, SOS scores correlated with respondents’ geographical location, with higher (i.e., northern) latitudes linked to lower social odor awareness. These results corroborate the SOS as a valid and reliable instrument, especially for the SOS total score and the Familiar and Partner factors, emphasizing the influence of individual and geographic factors on social odor awareness.
... Notably, there are indeed several instances of chemical signals altering hormonaldependent behavior in humans [16]. Examples include maternal behavior [17,18], ingestive behavior [19,20], social behavior in general [21,22], and sociosexual behavior in particular [23][24][25]. In other words, that a chemical signal can alter human behavior is not unusual. ...
Rodent tears contain social chemosignals with diverse effects, including blocking male aggression. Human tears also contain a chemosignal that lowers male testosterone, but its behavioral significance was unclear. Because reduced testosterone is associated with reduced aggression, we tested the hypothesis that human tears act like rodent tears to block male aggression. Using a standard behavioral paradigm, we found that sniffing emotional tears with no odor percept reduced human male aggression by 43.7%. To probe the peripheral brain substrates of this effect, we applied tears to 62 human olfactory receptors in vitro. We identified 4 receptors that responded in a dose-dependent manner to this stimulus. Finally, to probe the central brain substrates of this effect, we repeated the experiment concurrent with functional brain imaging. We found that sniffing tears increased functional connectivity between the neural substrates of olfaction and aggression, reducing overall levels of neural activity in the latter. Taken together, our results imply that like in rodents, a human tear–bound chemosignal lowers male aggression, a mechanism that likely relies on the structural and functional overlap in the brain substrates of olfaction and aggression. We suggest that tears are a mammalian-wide mechanism that provides a chemical blanket protecting against aggression.
... We found statistically significant differences in self-sniffing between the genders. We predicted that women would sniff themselves more often than men, because women tend to place a higher value on olfaction and odours in various contexts [20,22,23]. Some studies have shown that women sniff their body odour more often than men [26,27]. ...
... In total, 88 Czech women aged 18-40 years (mean = 22.9; SD = 2.85) participated as stimuli raters. Only female raters were recruited, because they, on average, score better on different areas of olfactory perception (for a review, see Brand & Millot, 2001) and they consider body odor more important when selecting a possible partner than men do (Havlicek et al., 2008). Requirements for participation were good respiratory health and no use of hormonal contraception (Martinec Nováková et al., 2014). ...
Several previous studies have shown that in mammals, the health status of conspecifics can be assessed based on perceptual cues. Olfactory, visual, or acoustic cues may lead to avoidant behavior, thus reducing the risk of contagion by close contact with infected individuals. We tested whether immune system activation after immunization leads to perceptible changes in body odor and facial and vocal attractiveness in humans. We have experimentally activated the immune system of male participants using vaccination against hepatitis A/B and meningococcus. Their body odor, facial photographs, and vocal recordings were collected before and 14 days after vaccination. Subsequently, the body odor samples, facial photographs, and vocal recordings were assessed by female raters for their attractiveness and healthiness. We have also measured skin coloration (from facial photographs and in vivo using a spectrophotometer), vocal parameters, and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels as a marker of inflammation. We found an increase in perceived body odor attractiveness, a decrease in facial attractiveness and healthiness, and no change in vocal attractiveness 14 days after vaccination compared to the prevaccination condition. Moreover, there was no change in facial coloration or vocal parameters between the prevaccination and postvaccination conditions. Prevaccination CRP levels were negatively associated with body odor and facial attractiveness and positively associated with body odor intensity. Overall, our results suggest that perceived body odor as well as facial but not vocal attractiveness may provide cues to activation of the immune response and that each modality may carry specific information about the individual's condition.
... In mate choice, individuals are guided-among other factors-by the pleasantness of a potential partner's body odor (Herz & Inzlicht, 2002;. This effect is particularly salient in females (Havlicek et al., 2008;Herz & Inzlicht, 2002). One possible determinant of such preferences is potential partners having HLA (human leukocyte antigen complex) genes dissimilar to one's own (Havlíček, Winternitz, & Roberts, 2020;Wedekind & Füri, 1997). ...
... Through an online survey conducted on the platform Qualtrics, 467 subjects were screened with the following inclusion criteria: female gender, age between 18 and 35, being a non-smoker. Only women were included to avoid gender-related effects, considering that it is documented that women present higher olfactory abilities (Doty and Cameron, 2009), higher odor awareness (Ferdenzi et al., 2008), higher interest in the sense of smell (Seo et al., 2011), and higher importance of olfaction Havlicek et al., 2008) than men. During the online survey, participants answered questions regarding demographic information, health status, including the presence of neurological or psychiatric conditions, the use of psychotropic drugs, drugs, alcohol and nicotine consumption, olfactory dysfunction, and then completed the following questionnaires: Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; Beck et al., 1996; Italian version by Ghisi et al., 2006), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI; Steer and Beck, 1997; Italian version by Sica and Ghisi, 2007), and Odor Awareness Scale (OAS; Smeets et al., 2008). ...
Background:
Olfactory disorders and affective symptoms are tightly related. However, the factors underlying this association are not yet understood. One candidate factor is "odor awareness": the degree of attention individuals pays to the odors. However, the association between odor awareness and olfactory abilities in individuals with affective symptoms has not been clarified yet.
Method:
The present study examined whether odor awareness may moderate (a) the relation between olfactory dysfunctions and depressive and anxiety symptoms; (b) the relation between the perceptual ratings of the odors and depressive and anxiety symptoms in a sample of healthy women (n = 214). Self-report measures of depression and anxiety were collected, whereas the Sniffin' Stick test was employed to measure olfactory abilities.
Results:
Linear regression analysis revealed that individuals with higher depressive symptoms presented lower olfactory abilities and that odor awareness was a significant moderator of the association between depressive symptoms and olfactory abilities. Anxiety symptoms were not related to any of the olfactory abilities considered, and this relationship did not change according to odor awareness. The familiarity rating of the odor was significantly predicted by odor awareness. These results were confirmed by Bayesian statistics.
Limitations:
The sample was composed only of women.
Conclusions:
In a healthy population of women, only the presence of depressive symptoms is related to reduced olfactory performance. Odor awareness may be implicated in the development and maintenance of olfactory dysfunction; hence it could be used as a useful target for specific treatments in clinical settings.
... Although physical appearance certainly plays a prominent role (Groyecka et al., 2017;Herz & Inzlicht, 2002;Walter et al., 2020), the assessment of attractiveness in potential mating partners is undeniably multimodal. Research suggests that body odour (Havlíček et al., 2008;Roberts et al., 2011) and vocal cues (Hill & Puts, 2016;Pisanski, Feinberg, Oleszkiewicz, & Sorokowska, 2017;Zäske, Skuk, & Schweinberger, 2020) also contribute substantially to human mate preferences (Groyecka et al., 2017). However, studies that examine potential cross-modal congruency and redundancy of attractiveness judgments are scarce. ...
Assessing the attractiveness of potential mating partners typically involves multiple sensory modalities, including the integration of olfactory, visual, and auditory cues. However, predictions diverge on how the individual modalities should relate to each other. According to the backup signals hypothesis, multimodal cues provide redundant information, whereas the multiple messages hypothesis suggests that different modalities provide independent and distinct information about an individual's mating-related quality. The backup signals hypothesis predicts a positive association between assessments based on different modalities, whereas no substantial correlation across modalities is expected under the multiple messageshypothesis. Previous studies testing the two hypotheses have provided mixed results, and a systematic evaluation is currently missing. We performed a systematic review and a meta-analysis of published and unpublished studies to examine the congruence in assessments between human body odour and facial attractiveness, and between body odour and vocal attractiveness. We found positive but weak associations between ratings of body odours and faces (r = 0.1, k = 25), and between body odours and voices (r = 0.1, k = 9). No sex differences were observed in the magnitude of effects. Compared to judgments of facial and vocal attractiveness, our results suggest that assessment of body odour provides independent and non-redundant information about human mating-related quality. Our findings thus provide little support for the backup signals hypothesis and may be better explained by the multiple messages hypothesis.
Download the article till January, 19th, 2023 here:
https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1gAcC3tz48~wQu
... For example, several studies suggest that the sense of smell plays a role in inbreeding avoidance (Wolf 1995;Weisfeld et al. 2003;Matchock and Susman 2006;Hochberg and Belsky 2013). In addition, women without contraceptive medication prefer the odor of men with dissimilar MHC constitution than their selves (Wedekind et al. 1995;Wedekind and Furi 1997) and olfaction in mate choice is more important to women compared to men (Herz and Inzlicht 2002;Havlicek et al. 2008). Different diseases have an individual odor (Liddell 1976;Brown 1995) and can hence be identified by humans (for review seePenn and Potts 1998; Penn and Potts 1998)). ...
Introduction
The human sense of smell has different functions which can be categorized as “food,” “social,” and “environment.” Different questionnaires about the importance of olfaction in adults are available, but little attention has been paid to children and adolescents. Therefore, we aimed to develop a questionnaire about children’s personal significance of olfaction (ChiPSO).
Methods
The questionnaire was developed in two steps. The first questionnaire included 33 statements about the importance of olfactory information in daily life — covering three subscales “food,” “environment,” and “social” administered to 191 participants (mean age: 14.4 ± 1.7 years). The five best fitting items of each subscale were chosen for the final 15-item questionnaire. In the second part, we administered the developed questionnaire to 208 children and adolescents (mean age: 11.5 ± 3.5 years) who additionally underwent olfactory testing to investigate the association between olfactory function and questionnaire results. Participants were separated in two age groups: (i) 6–11 years (children), (ii) 12–17 years (adolescents).
Results
A significant influence of age on the total ChiPSO score and all three subscales with adolescents scoring higher than children was found. Additionally, there was a significant influence of sex in adolescents on total ChiPSO score and subscales “social” and “food” with girls scoring higher than boys.
Conclusion
We report an association between questionnaires results and olfactory performance. Additionally, olfactory information seems to be more important to adolescents compared to children and girls compared to boys.
Implications
The ChiPSO questionnaire is a practical tool to evaluate the importance of olfactory information in children and adolescents aged 6–17 years.
... Second, Brand and Millot (2001) suggested the effect of gender could be explained by the more regular exposure of women to scented products, which could be confirmed by studies demonstrating that mere exposure to odors can improve olfactory ability (see Sorokowska et al. 2017 for a meta-analysis). Moreover, some studies have shown that women are generally more interested in odors (Ferdenzi et al., 2008;Havlicek et al. 2008). Nevertheless, this assumption can be debated, as studies have shown that the superiority of women in olfactory tasks is not systematic (Sorokowska et al. 2015). ...
INTRODUCTION:
Odor imagery is known to be more difficult than any other modality of sensory imagery. Consequently, wide between-individuals variability can be found in odor imagery ability. Several studies have shown a positive relationship between olfactory performance and odor imagery ability. In the light of factors known to influence smelling ability, this study therefore investigated the effects of two factors — gender and age — known to influence smelling ability, on self-declared odor imagery ability in normosmic individuals.
METHODS:
Seven hundred and nine French participants were asked to complete the web version of the French Vividness of Olfactory Imagery Questionnaire (fVOIQ). General linear models were used to determine the contributions of gender and age to odor imagery vividness scores. Moreover, scores were compared between age intervals ranging from 18–30 years old to 60 + years old.
RESULTS:
Our findings reveal that at any age, men and women have the same odor imagery ability. Odor imagery ability in self-declared normosmic individuals improves with age until 50–60 years old, and beyond this point the often-reported age-related olfactory decay does not alter it.
CONCLUSIONS:
These findings suggest a high contribution of daily olfactory experience to the development of this cognitive function, and a relationship with olfactory performance that appears less linear than hypothesized.
IMPLICATIONS:
This study provides food for thought in the field of olfaction: it suggests that distinct mechanisms may underlie two cognitive processes, perception and sensory imagery.
... where it is thought that heterosexual females assess potential partners more carefully than heterosexual males, and because smell is considered especially important to women in this regard (Havlicek et al., 2008), this directional sequence from male donor to female smeller would seem less https://doi.org/10.1017/ehs.2022.44 Published online by Cambridge University Press applicable to communication of emotion: both the sender and receiver of any emotional signal could be of either sex. ...
Recent work has demonstrated that human body odour alters with changing emotional state and that emotionally laden odours can affect the physiology and behaviour of people exposed to them. Here we review these discoveries, which we believe add to a growing recognition that the human sense of smell, and its potential role in social interactions, have been underappreciated. However, we also critically evaluate the current evidence, with particular focus on methodology and interpretation of emotional odour studies. We argue that while the evidence convincingly indicates that humans retain a capacity for olfactory communication of emotion, the extent to which this occurs in ordinary social interaction remains an open question. Future studies should place fewer restrictions on participant selection and lifestyle and adopt more realistic experimental designs. We also need to devote more consideration to underlying mechanisms and to recognise the constraints that these may place on effective communication. Finally, we outline some promising approaches to address these issues, and raise some broader theoretical questions that such approaches may help us to answer.
... Last, we want to note that attractiveness judgments are based on more than faces and voices. Odor cues (Havlicek et al., 2008;Lobmaier et al., 2018), visual perception of the body (Kościński, 2013), gaze direction (Ho et al., 2018;Kaisler et al., 2020), and emotional expression (Lindeberg et al., 2019;Kaisler et al., 2020) for example also play an important role and should be addressed in future studies. ...
Vocal and facial cues typically co-occur in natural settings, and multisensory processing of voice and face relies on their synchronous presentation. Psychological research has examined various facial and vocal cues to attractiveness as well as to judgements of sexual dimorphism, health, and age. However, few studies have investigated the interaction of vocal and facial cues in attractiveness judgments under naturalistic conditions using dynamic, ecologically valid stimuli. Here, we used short videos or audio tracks of females speaking full sentences and used a manipulation of voice pitch to investigate cross-modal interactions of voice pitch on facial attractiveness and related ratings. Male participants had to rate attractiveness, femininity, age, and health of synchronized audio-video recordings or voices only, with either original or modified voice pitch. We expected audio stimuli with increased voice pitch to be rated as more attractive, more feminine, healthier, and younger. If auditory judgements cross-modally influence judgements of facial attributes, we additionally expected the voice pitch manipulation to affect ratings of audiovisual stimulus material. We tested 106 male participants in a within-subject design in two sessions. Analyses revealed that voice recordings with increased voice pitch were perceived to be more feminine and younger, but not more attractive or healthier. When coupled with video recordings, increased pitch lowered perceived age of faces, but did not significantly influence perceived attractiveness, femininity, or health. Our results suggest that our manipulation of voice pitch has a measurable impact on judgements of femininity and age, but does not measurably influence vocal and facial attractiveness in naturalistic conditions.
... Even though the human sense of smell is much less sensitive, and olfaction seems to play a much lesser role in our lives compared to that of animals, and particularly dogs, there is a surprisingly high number of publications dedicated to smell preferences in humans, compared to the extremely low number of similar publications dedicated to dogs [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. Further, in other species, such as mice, in which olfaction plays a crucial role in many aspects of life, there are a number of publications related to olfaction, including smell preferences [22,23]. ...
The available evidence on dogs’ scent preferences is quite limited. The purpose of this study was to verify the canine response to selected odors that may also be preferred by humans. The experiment was performed using 14 adult dogs (10 female and 4 male) of different breeds, body size, and age (1–14 years). During the experiment, dogs were exposed to 33 odor samples: a neutral sample containing pure dipropylene glycol (control) and 32 samples containing dipropylene glycol and fragrance oils. The dog was brought to the experimental area by its handler, who then stopped at the entrance, unleashed the dog, and remained in the starting position. The dog freely explored the area for 30 s. All dog movements and behavior were recorded and analyzed. The methodology of observing the dogs freely exploring the experimental area allowed us to determine the smells that were the most attractive to them (food, beaver clothing). Our study shows that dogs interacted more frequently with the scents of blueberries, blackberries, mint, rose, lavender, and linalol.
... Smell emanations and volatile signatures are in this context related to metabolism processes. Amongst others, body odors are implicated in breastfeeding [107][108][109] and mate choice, [110] and both their production and perception can be expected to be shaped by odorant metabolism. ...
Odorants are relatively small molecules which are easily taken up and distributed in the human body. Despite their relevance in everyday life, however, only a limited amount of evidence about their metabolism, pathways, and bioactivities in the human body exists. With this review, we aim to encourage future interdisciplinary research on the function and mechanisms of the biotransformation of odorants, involving different disciplines such as nutrition, medicine, biochemistry, chemistry, and sensory sciences. Starting with a general overview of the different ways of odorant uptake and enzymes involved in the metabolism of odorants, a more precise description of biotransformation processes and their function in the oral cavity, the nose, the lower respiratory tract (LRT), and the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is given together with an overview of the different routes of odorant excretion. Finally, perspectives for future research are discussed.
... Smell emanations and volatile signatures are in this context related to metabolism processes. Amongst others, body odors are implicated in breastfeeding [107][108][109] and mate choice, [110] and both their production and perception can be expected to be shaped by odorant metabolism. ...
Odorants are relatively small molecules which are easily taken up and distributed in the human body. Despite their relevance in everyday life, however, only a limited amount of evidence about their metabolism, pathways, and bioactivities in the human body exists. With this Review, we aim to encourage future interdisciplinary research on the function and mechanisms of the biotransformation of odorants, involving different disciplines such as nutrition, medicine, biochemistry, chemistry, and sensory sciences. Starting with a general overview of the different ways of odorant uptake and enzymes involved in the metabolism of odorants, a more precise description of biotransformation processes and their function in the oral cavity, the nose, the lower respiratory tract (LRT), and the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is given together with an overview of the different routes of odorant excretion. Finally, perspectives for future research are discussed.
... In our study, indeed, the females perceived the anise odor with higher intensity than the males. Several studies revealed that women care about olfaction more than men do, compared with other sensory modalities [116,117]. Furthermore, women are better at identifying and memorizing odors of various origins, such as food [21,118,119]. This difference may be due to the absolute total number of neuronal and non-neuronal cells, favoring women by 40-50% [120]. ...
Smell, which allows us to gather information about the hedonic value of an odor, is
affected by many factors. This study aimed to assess the relationship among individual factors, odor
sensitivity, and enjoyment, and to evaluate how overall flavor perception and liking in actual food
samples are affected by odor sensitivity. A total of 749 subjects, from four different Italian regions,
participated in the study. The olfactory capabilities test on four odors (anise, banana, mint, and pine),
as well as PROP (6-n-prpyl-2-thiouracil) status and food neophobia were assessed. The subjects
were clustered into three groups of odor sensitivity, based on the perceived intensity of anise. The
liking and intensity of the overall flavor were evaluated for four chocolate puddings with increasing
sweetness (C1, C2, C3, and C4). The individual variables significantly affected the perceived intensity
and liking of the odors. Even if all of the odor sensitivity groups perceived the more intensely
flavored samples as the C1 and C4 chocolate puddings, the high-sensitivity group scored the global
flavor of all of the samples as more intense than the low-sensitivity group. The low-sensitive subjects
evaluated the liking of the sweeter samples with higher scores than the moderate-sensitive subjects,
whereas the high-sensitive subjects gave intermediate scores. In conclusion, odor sensitivity plays a
pivotal role in the perception and liking of real food products; this has to be taken into account in the
formulation of new products, suitable for particular categories with reduced olfactory abilities.
... Body odors may convey such a honest information as their saliency has been highlighted in mate selection Lübke and Pause, 2015;White and Cunningham, 2017), and in the establishment of romantic relationships (for review, see Mahmut and Croy, 2019). Body odor pleasantness and facial attractiveness correlate weakly but significantly in both men (axillary odor: Roberts et al., 2011;Carrito et al., 2017; whole torso odor conveyed on a t-shirt: Gangestad and Thornhill, 1998;Rikowski and Grammer, 1999;Thornhill and Gangestad, 1999) and women (whole torso odor: Rikowski and Grammer, 1999;Thornhill and Gangestad, 1999;Thornhill et al., 2003), even though when it comes to mate choice, women are reportedly more prone than men to rely on olfaction (Herz and Cahill, 1997;Herz and Inzlicht, 2002;Havlicek et al., 2008;White and Cunningham, 2017;but see Foster, 2008). ...
A recent body of research has emerged regarding the interactions between olfaction and other sensory channels to process social information. The current review examines the influence of body odors on face perception, a core component of human social cognition. First, we review studies reporting how body odors interact with the perception of invariant facial information (i.e., identity, sex, attractiveness, trustworthiness, and dominance). Although we mainly focus on the influence of body odors based on axillary odor, we also review findings about specific steroids present in axillary sweat (i.e., androstenone, androstenol, androstadienone, and estratetraenol). We next survey the literature showing body odor influences on the perception of transient face properties, notably in discussing the role of body odors in facilitating or hindering the perception of emotional facial expression, in relation to competing frameworks of emotions. Finally, we discuss the developmental origins of these olfaction-to-vision influences, as an emerging literature indicates that odor cues strongly influence face perception in infants. Body odors with a high social relevance such as the odor emanating from the mother have a widespread influence on various aspects of face perception in infancy, including categorization of faces among other objects, face scanning behavior, or facial expression perception. We conclude by suggesting that the weight of olfaction might be especially strong in infancy, shaping social perception, especially in slow-maturing senses such as vision, and that this early tutoring function of olfaction spans all developmental stages to disambiguate a complex social environment by conveying key information for social interactions until adulthood.
... There are also important differences between women and men in terms of scent sometimes having more of an influence over the perception and behaviour of women (Chen & Haviland-Jones, 2000;Doty et al., 1985; though see also Brand & Millot, 2001;Doty & Cameron, 2009;Koelega & Köster, 1974). Women have also been reported to rate smell as a more important sense in mate selection whereas men report valuing visual cues more highly (Havlíček et al., 2008;Herz & Inzlicht, 2002; though see also Johansson & Jones, 2007;Sorokowska, 2013). ...
In recent decades, there has been an explosion of research into the crossmodal influence of olfactory cues on multisensory person perception. Numerous peer-reviewed studies have documented that a variety of olfactory stimuli, from ambient malodours through to fine fragrances, and even a range of chemosensory body odours can influence everything from a perceiver’s judgments of another person’s attractiveness, age, affect, health/disease status, and even elements of their personality. The crossmodal and multisensory contributions to such effects are reviewed and the limitations/peculiarities of the research that have been published to date are highlighted. At the same time, however, it is important to note that the presence of scent (and/or the absence of malodour) can also influence people’s (i.e., a perceiver’s) self-confidence which may, in turn, affect how attractive they appear to others. Several potential cognitive mechanisms have been put forward to try and explain such crossmodal/multisensory influences, and some of the neural substrates underpinning these effects have now been characterized. At the end of this narrative review, a number of the potential (and actual) applications for, and implications of, such crossmodal/multisensory phenomena involving olfaction are outlined briefly.
... Although often undervalued, the sense of smell is important for human sexual life, because it processes axillary or genital odors that elicit hormonal changes and hypothalamic arousal (Lübke and Pause, 2015). Especially in women, the judgment of attractiveness and choosing a potential partner seem to depend on body odors (rather than other sensory cues) (Havlicek et al., 2008;Herz and Cahill, 1997;Lübke and Pause, 2015). Accordingly, patients with smell problems frequently state sexual and social problems (Merkonidis et al., 2015). ...
... Although often undervalued, the sense of smell is important for human sexual life, because it processes axillary or genital odors that elicit hormonal changes and hypothalamic arousal (Lübke and Pause, 2015). Especially in women, the judgment of attractiveness and choosing a potential partner seem to depend on body odors (rather than other sensory cues) (Havlicek et al., 2008;Herz and Cahill, 1997;Lübke and Pause, 2015). Accordingly, patients with smell problems frequently state sexual and social problems (Merkonidis et al., 2015). ...
The aim of this study was to evaluate female rat sexual motivation in a model of diabetes mellitus type 1. Severe hyperglycemia was induced in ovariectomized Wistar rats by injecting streptozotocin [STZ, 100 mg/kg, i.p.]. Ten days later, females received estradiol benzoate (10 μg/rat, s.c.) plus progesterone (3 mg/rat, s.c.). A group of STZ-treated animals was administered with insulin (2–4 U) every 12 h for 10 days, which normalized glucose levels. In the partner preference (PP) and sexual incentive motivation (SIM) tests, control females spent more time close to a sexually experienced male (SE) than with a castrated male (CM). STZ-treated females stayed the same amount of time with both stimuli, that is, they lost their sexual preference. We also evaluated the sense of smell using two behavioral tests, one related to sexual odors (SO) and another one to food odors (FO). In the SO test, control females spent more time sniffing the sawdust coming from cages that contained SE males; hyperglycemic females remained the same amount of time sniffing the sawdust of both stimuli: SE and CM. In the FO test, no differences were found between control and STZ-treated groups. Insulin treatment reverted the changes observed in hyperglycemic females in the PP, SIM and SO tests. These data suggest that severe hyperglycemia decreases sexual motivation and that insulin recovers such diminution.
... In this respect, long-term consequences have to be considered, as feelings of insecurity and social anxiety are linked to lower self-esteem or social isolation (De Jong, Sportel, De Hullu, and Nauta 2012; Lim, Rodebaugh, Zyphur, and Gleeson 2016). Here, a special awareness should be raised towards young women, because women generally report to rely more on olfactory cues than men (Havlicek et al. 2008;Murr, Hummel, Ritschel, and Croy 2018) and because impeded olfactory function is assumed to be particularly crucial in young adult age, as this period is associated with formatting bonds towards mates or towards the own baby. ...
The sense of smell essentially contributes to social communication, guides nutrition behaviour and elicits avoidance towards environmental hazards. Olfactory smell impairment may hence entail severe consequences for affected individuals. Compared with sensory loss in other modalities, reduced olfactory function is often unnoticed by those affected and diagnosed late. Those patients seeking help frequently suffer from long-term impairments resulting in reduced well-being and quality of life. The current review provides an overview of aetiology, prevalence and specifics of diagnostics in acquired and congenital olfactory loss and focusses on short- and long-term consequences. Compensation strategies are elaborated, and treatment options are mentioned. Individual characteristics associated with the development of serious mental health impairment are discussed in order to help practitioners identifying populations at risk.
... Our data support this finding and demonstrate that with increasing age, availability of these olfactory data may continue to drive sexual desire and quality of sexual experience. However, Herz and Cahill also found that olfaction is particularly salient to sexual attraction in young women compared to men, and this finding has been replicated for young women across different cultures 47 . We find that this gender difference is not present in older adults. ...
Background
Sensory function declines with age and may impact sexual function in older adults. Indeed, the sense of smell plays a uniquely strong role in sexual motivation. Therefore, olfactory dysfunction in older adults may be intimately linked to changes in sexual desire and satisfaction.
Aim
To test whether impaired olfactory function is associated with decreased sexual activity and motivation in older adults.
Methods
Cross-sectional analysis of a nationally representative sample of community-dwelling older U.S. adults from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project.
Outcomes
2 modalities of olfactory function were measured (sensitivity to n-butanol and odor identification) via validated methods (Sniffin’ Sticks). Respondents answered survey questions about frequency of sexual thoughts (motivation) and sexual activity, and satisfaction with their most recent sexual relationship. A wide range of demographic, health, and social information were also collected.
Results
Decreased olfactory function in older U.S. adults was associated with decreased sexual motivation (odds ratio 0.93, P = .03) and less emotional satisfaction with sex (odds ratio 0.89, P = .04), but not decreased frequency of sexual activity or physical pleasure, in analyses that were adjusted for age, gender, race, education, cognition, comorbidities, and depression.
Clinical Implications
Olfactory dysfunction may affect sexuality in older adults. Potentially treatable causes of sensory loss should be addressed by clinicians to improve quality of life.
Strengths & Limitations
These results rely on validated olfactory testing, detailed measures of sexual attitudes and behaviors, and extensive demographic, health, and social history in a nationally representative sample of older U.S. adults. Owing to the cross-sectional nature of these analyses, we cannot determine causality.
Conclusions
Olfactory dysfunction in older U.S. adults is associated with decreased sexual motivation and emotional satisfaction, potentially due to evolutionarily-conserved neurological links between olfaction and sexuality.
Siegel JK, Kung SY, Wroblewski KE, et al. Olfaction Is Associated With Sexual Motivation and Satisfaction in Older Men and Women. J Sex Med 2020;XX:XXX–XXX.
... Several studies have demonstrated the importance of body odor for human mating behavior (Havlicek et al., 2008;Herz and Cahill, 1997;Herz and Inzlicht, 2002;Lundström and Jones-Gotman, 2009;Pause et al., 2010;Sergeant et al., 2007;Trivers, 1972). As an example, humans seem to be able to detect, on the basis of body odors, whether potential mates have a similar or different immune system, allowing for the selection of mates that might produce offspring with a more diverse immune system (Milinski et al., 2013). ...
There is growing evidence that humans use olfactory chemosensory signals for social communication, but their role in affective associative learning is largely unknown. To examine this, women implicitly learned face-odor associations by pairing different neutral male faces with either a male chemosignal presumably involved in human mating behavior (dissolved Δ4,16-androstadien-3-one, “AND”), a pleasant smell (dissolved vanillin) or the neutral solvent alone. After learning, women rated faces previously paired with AND or vanillin as more attractive than faces paired with solvent, even though they were unable to identify the contingency of face-odor pairings above chance level. On a neurophysiological level, both AND- and vanillin-associated faces evoked stronger magnetoencephalographic correlates of enhanced emotional attention than solvent-associated faces at early (<120 ms) and mid-latency (140-270 ms) processing stages. This study stresses the role of AND as a human chemosignal in implicit social communication and demonstrates its effectiveness in modulating emotional learning.
... The influence of social grouping on taxonomic composition in gut microbiome was also shown in wild baboons (Tung et al. 2015). In the case of humans, we can imagine that microorganisms influence our partner preferences (Havlicek et al. 2008) as anaerobic microbes produce volatile fatty acids, alcohol and ketones, which are the active components of our scent. Similar studies lead to the theory that microbial communities can also be responsible for behavioral and ecological isolation, or postmating reproductive isolation (cytoplasmic incompatibility, hybridization, etc.), all of which lead to speciation events (for a more detailed review, see Brucker and Borderstein 2012a). ...
... No parallel evidence is currently available for such positive olfactory imprinting effects in human mate selection, although body odour is reported to influence seduction and sexual interaction, especially in females (at least in Western samples of young adults; [222][223][224]). One study on adult response to human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-covarying odour cues [225] hints in that direction, however. ...
The impact of the olfactory sense is regularly apparent across development.
The fetus is bathed in amniotic fluid (AF) that conveys the mother’s chemical
ecology. Transnatal olfactory continuity between the odours of AF and milk
assists in the transition to nursing. At the same time, odours emanating from
the mammary areas provoke appetitive responses in newborns. Odours
experienced from the mother’s diet during breastfeeding, and from practices
such as pre-mastication, may assist in the dietary transition at weaning. In
parallel, infants are attracted to and recognize their mother’s odours; later,
children are able to recognize other kin and peers based on their odours.
Familiar odours, such as those of the mother, regulate the child’s emotions,
and scaffold perception and learning through non-olfactory senses. During
juvenility and adolescence, individuals become more sensitive to some
bodily odours, while the timing of adolescence itself has been speculated to
draw from the chemical ecology of the family unit. Odours learnt early in
life and within the family niche continue to influence preferences as mate
choice becomes relevant. Olfaction thus appears significant in turning on, sustaining
and, in cases when mother odour is altered, disturbing adaptive
reciprocity between offspring and carer during the multiple transitions of
development between birth and adolescence.
This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Olfactory
communication in humans’.
... This particular structure builds on a clear evolutionary rationale. The female biological compatibility test works toward the screening of the possible male partners from the viewpoint of the compatibility of their genetic endowment with the female one [63], and is carried out through the elaboration of a vast array of diverse signals, from physical aspect to posture, movement, voice pitch, bodily energy, expressive intensity, and haptic feel, with a special sensitivity toward those signals that transmit chemical information, such as smell and taste [64,65], or toward somatic traits associated with masculinity [66]. It is important to emphasize how the compatibility does not refer to characters that conform to a social standard of desirability-it rather prompts a subjective, unexpected, uncalculated response. ...
We introduce a typological characterization of possible human heterosexual couples in terms of the concordance-opposition of the orientations of their active and receptive areas as defined by the tie-up theory. We show that human mating incentives, as characterized by widely adopted approaches, such as Becker’s marriage market approach, only capture very specific instances of actual couples thus characterized. Our approach allows us to instead explore how super-cooperation among partners vs. convenience vs. constriction may be regarded as alternatives modes of couple formation and cohesion, leading to very different types of couples with different implications in terms of stability and resilience. Our results may have interesting implications for future experimental research and for individual and family counseling.
... But human chemical communication has been most extensively studied in the context of mate choice, mostly by investigating perceived attractiveness and preferences for a potential reproductive partner. Studies using self-reports show that body odour is rated as a key factor in a person's attractiveness when compared with several sensory and behavioural characteristics of a potential partner [16], although mainly in female raters [16,17]. Studies in patients with olfactory disorders show that olfactory loss has serious adverse effects on the quality of social interactions (see [18]), such as partnership insecurity or decreased sexual activity [19]. ...
Many species use chemicals to communicate. In humans, there is increasing evidence that chemicals conveyed by the body are extremely important in interpersonal relationships. However, many aspects of chemical communication remain to be explored to fully understand this function in humans. The aim of this article is to identify relevant challenges in this field, with a focus on human attractiveness in the context of reproduction, and to put forward roadmaps for future studies that will hopefully extend to a wider range of social interactions. The first challenge consists in not being limited to body (mal)odours from the axilla. Preliminary data on how the odour of the face and head is perceived are presented. Second, there is a crucial need to increase our knowledge of the chemical bases of human chemical communication. Third, cross-cultural approaches must not be overlooked, because they have a major input in understanding the universal and culture-specific aspects of chemical communication. Fourth, the influence of specific cultural practices such as contraceptive and fragrance use is likely to be prominent and, therefore, needs to be well described. The fifth and last challenge for research projects in this field is the integration of different disciplines such as behavioural sciences, social sciences, neurosciences and microbiology.
This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Olfactory communication in humans’.
... There has also been a focus on the role of cues that, to varying extent, may be relevant to mate choice. People appear to attribute great importance to a partner's body odour (Havlíček et al. 2008), and body odours contain cues related to, for example, menstrual cycle stage Singh and Bronstad 2001), genetic compatibility ), health status (Moshkin et al. 2012;Olsson et al. 2014), diet quality (Fialová et al. 2013;Havlíček and Lenochova 2006), social status (Havlíček et al. 2005), and personality (Sorokowska 2013). ...
Humans were once considered to be microsmatic, but recent research
suggests that we can use our sense of smell to detect important, socially relevant information about conspecifics. However, much of the research conducted todate has investigated natural, fragrance free human body odours. While this is important in order to understand the evolution of olfactory communication in humans, it fails to account for the current (and historical) widespread use of artificial fragrances. In this chapter, we outline ways in which extraneous artificial fragrances may augment the underlying body odour, or ‘odour space’ of an individual, and how this might influence the perception of socially relevant information. In doing so, we describe some specific mechanisms for the interaction between body odours and artificial fragrances (blending and masking) and we discuss some recent work which has attempted to distinguish between these mechanisms.
Research shows that male body odor plays an important role in women’s mate choice and that olfactory abilities are associated with women’s sexual functioning. What remains unclear is what types of partner’s odor actually shape women’s experience during intimate activities. This study therefore explored women’s experience associated with the partner’s various odors and investigated how they affect women’s intimate and sexual encounters. We performed semi-structured individual interviews with 20 single women and 20 women in a long-term relationship. Thematic analysis revealed four key natural odor types of the partner: body odor, sweat, genital odor, and semen odor. Further, we have identified three main types of fragrance odor (cologne, shower gel, and laundry agents) and investigated their perception in both intimate (hugging, kissing, cuddling, lying side by side) and sexual (intercourse, oral sex, ejaculation) contexts. Both partner’s natural odor and fragrance affected women’s emotional state (ranging from pleasant to unpleasant) and behavioral response (ranging from approach to avoidance of partner). Women’s odor perception was frequently context-dependent, so that even mostly negatively perceived odors (e.g., semen, genital odor) were often accepted as part of sexual encounter. Finally, women’s perception was negatively modified by partner’s specific sweat (after workday, workout, or when the partner is ill) during intimate encounters. Our results highlight the complexity and interindividual variability of partner’s odor perception.
In this chapter, the relations between biological sex/gender and nonverbal cues, behaviors, and abilities are discussed. First, the variability that exists within the two biological sex categories (viz., female, male) is covered, followed by a review of sex differences in nonverbal cues and behaviors (Quadrants 1 and 4). Next, caveats pertaining to the interpretation of gender differences are enumerated before observed differences between men’s and women’s nonverbal behavior are reviewed (cues/behaviors displayed; nonverbal skills). Afterward, the debate about the origin of differences in the nonverbal skills and behaviors of females/women and males/men is outlined. In the world of artificial intelligence, questions about the future relevance of debates concerning the origin of gender differences in nonverbal communication close the chapter.
21 MSH and HMHA are two sexually dimorphic compounds present in human sweat. While 22 MSH is more typically found in women, HMHA is more typically found in men. Here we 23 investigated whether it was possible to explicitly identify these two compounds as 24 masculine or feminine. We also investigated whether gender and age differences would 25 point towards a possible role of these compounds in opposite-sex attractiveness. To this 26 end, we analyzed the perceptual ratings of 2'716 individuals (62% female) aged between 6 27 and 90, collected during a one-year museum exhibition. Analyses with Bayesian mixed-28 effects models revealed that only women rated MSH as more feminine than HMHA. 29 However, this effect remains very small and Masculinity/Femininity ratings are extremely 30 variable among the population. Women also rated the odors are more intense and less 31 pleasant than men did. Age differences reflected the effect of increasing experience with 32 body odors, such as an increase in odor familiarity. The loss of olfactory abilities with age, 33 i.e. presbyosmia, was also reflected by decreased perceived intensity and unpleasantness 34 (at least for HMHA). Overall, the results do not allow us to argue in favor of a function of 35 MSH and/or HMHA in male-female attractiveness, but are in line with the known gender 36 and age differences in odor perception. Future studies on the olfactory determinants of 37 human attractiveness would benefit from the identification of new sexually dimorphic 38 compounds and from using designs were the effect of odors are tested more implicitly.
Objectives:
Food neophobia is a rejection or avoidance of novel food products. Despite the adaptive importance of this behavior, it exerts a negative influence on dietary habits and preferences. Sensory sensitivity relates to food neophobia and among specific sensory modalities, olfaction seems to be an obvious candidate for a correlate of this behavior as odor perception largely affects food intake and enjoyment. However, research on olfactory perception and food neophobia is scarce, and despite some promising results, the full picture of their association still awaits discovery. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between food neophobia and olfaction in adolescents, a group that has not been included in the previous studies investigating this association.
Methods:
We tested the olfactory perception-food neophobia relationship in 510 adolescents 15 to 17 y of age using a food neophobia questionnaire, a psychophysical odor identification test, a self-assessment of odor sensitivity, an odor significance questionnaire, and through odor pleasantness assessments.
Results:
We observed significant correlations between food neophobia and all included measures of olfactory perception.
Conclusion:
The overall regression model suggested that self-assessed sensitivity and odor awareness were the most influential, olfaction-related predictors of food neophobia in adolescents.
Androstenol has been reported to influence judgements of attractiveness and to affect participants’ mood. In the present study, participants were asked to sniff androstenol or a control odour (pure ethanol) unilaterally with the left or right nostril. Subsequently, they rated the attractiveness of photographs of the opposite sex and their own feelings on four mood scales. Participants rated the photographs as significantly more attractive after sniffing androstenol compared with the control odour. This did not depend upon androstenol being perceived as pleasant. Androstenol made male participants feel more lively, and both male and female participants more sexy, when sniffed through the right compared with the left nostril. Participants rated themselves as more irritable and aggressive when exposed to androstenol through the left nostril. The findings are discussed in relation to the effects of arousal on attraction and in the context of current theories of hemispheric differences in emotion.
Although humans' sense of smell is relatively diminished compared to other species, olfaction is still a central sensory modality through which people evaluate both potential threats and prospective romantic partners. Despite olfaction's role in interpersonal relationships and disease avoidant responses, however, it remains unknown whether variation in olfactory acuity is associated with disease- and mating-relevant psychological constructs and behaviors. In the current exploratory study, we examined the relationships between olfactory acuity, disgust sensitivity, and mating strategies in a sample of undergraduate students (N = 162) at a university in the Southern United States using an extended assessment of olfactory acuity (measuring olfactory threshold, discrimination, and identification). Results revealed that people with greater discrimination acuity were higher in dispositional sexual disgust, but not pathogen or moral disgust. People with greater discrimination acuity were also less inclined towards short-term mating. Further, sexual disgust mediated the relationship between discrimination acuity and short-term mating orientation. These results provide further evidence for the importance of olfaction and olfaction-related disgust in close relationships.
Background
Olfactory memory testing is a promising way to explore different aspects of smell-related abilities in healthy subjects as well as to diagnose various diseases associated with disorders of this type of memory. Despite the obvious value of olfactory memory assessments, few available methods enable its diagnosis.
New method
The aim of our study was to create a standardized research tool designed for olfactory memory studies: an extended, 32-item version of an available “Test for Odor Memory”.
Results
The study involving 222 subjects revealed satisfactory psychometric qualities of TOM-32, and – as hypothesized – subjects with depression scored significantly lower than healthy participants. We additionally showed significant correlations between TOM-32 scores and sex, age and olfactory awareness. Women performed significantly better than men, young people tended to have lower false alarm rate than older subjects and olfactory awareness was positively associated with olfactory memory.
Comparison with existing method(s)
TOM-32 could expand the possibilities of testing olfactory memory performance. It may offer additional information about cognitive and sensory abilities relative to existing research tools, and the large number of included test items may facilitate repeated and longitudinal testing. Wide range of applied odors increases the possibility to detect subtle differences between, as well as changes within, individuals.
Conclusions
We present an extensive olfactory memory test with satisfactory psychometric qualities – a test that is comprehensive enough to show significant inter- and intra-individual differences, but time-efficient enough to be comfortable in daily research and clinical usage.
Altered social cognition is a core feature of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). These impairments have been explained as the consequence of compromised social motivational mechanisms that limit social interest and activate a cascade of social deficits. Following this rational, we argue that approaches capable of surpassing ASD usual restraints (e.g., deficits in verbal abilities), and able to assign social meaning, could be more effective at responding to these difficulties. In this framework, we propose that olfaction, as well as cross-modal integration strategies involving both visual and olfactory domains, may have such potential. In fact, most of socioemotional processing deficits in ASD have been shown in an uni-modal perspective, mainly with visual stimuli. However, the social environment involves other modalities and is typically multisensorial. Given the potential of olfaction as a gateway for socioemotional information in ASD, we argue in favor of studying olfactory perception, as well as visuo-olfactory integration, given the potential of these approaches to drive effective interventions and give the access to a meaningful social world in ASD.
Modern humans are currently experiencing a transformation of their environment and of their way of life that are impacting the way they can experience nature in their daily life. These experiences of nature are of great importance for the well-being and health of individuals. They are complex phenomena, anchored in an environmental context, but also socio-cultural, which are based on closely intertwined components that are emotions, memories, knowledge, but also all the sensory stimuli perceived by the human body. Among the senses mobilized, the sense of smell, by its memory and emotional importance, seems to play a singular part in the relationship that weaves the human to nature. The work conducted in this thesis, articulating around three axes of research and reflection, concerns this role of the olfaction in the experience of nature.
L’humain moderne vit une transformation de son environnement et de son mode de vie qui impactent la façon dont il peut vivre des expériences de nature au quotidien. Or, ces expériences de nature sont d'une grande importance pour le bien-être et la santé des individus. Ce sont des phénomènes complexes, ancrés dans un contexte environnemental, mais aussi socio-culturel, qui reposent sur des composantes étroitement mêlées que sont les émotions, les souvenirs, les connaissances, mais aussi tous les stimuli sensoriels perçus. Parmi les sens mobilisés, l’odorat, de par son importance mémorielle et émotionnelle, semble jouer un rôle à part dans la relation que tisse l’humain à la nature. C’est à ce rôle de l’olfaction dans l’expérience de nature, à cette part olfactive de l’expérience, que s’intéresse cette thèse s’articulant autour de trois axes de recherches et de réflexion. Dans un premier chapitre, ce manuscrit aborde comment caractériser la part olfactive de l’expérience de nature d’un point de vue individuel. La réflexion de ce chapitre se base sur la mise en œuvre et l’analyse des réponses à un questionnaire articulant entre eux l’olfaction, l’identité et les usages sensoriels d’espaces de nature déclarés par les individus. Dans le deuxième chapitre, c’est la façon dont l’expérience olfactive de nature s’ancre dans un environnement et un contexte qui est abordée, et comment cet ancrage influence la façon dont l’individu vit et décrit son expérience olfactive. La réflexion de ce chapitre s’appuie sur des témoignages recueillis lors de parcours olfactifs commentés et des questionnaires in situ. Enfin, en se basant sur les résultats des études précédentes, le troisième et dernier chapitre s’intéresse à la façon dont l’expérience olfactive de nature peut avoir un rôle transformateur sur l’individu dans le cadre particulier des environnements restaurateurs. En guise de conclusion, ce manuscrit aborde des réflexions, des ouvertures théoriques et pratiques, et des applications que peuvent apporter les résultats du travail de thèse, notamment la place que le sensoriel, l’incarné et l’olfactif pourraient prendre à l’avenir dans la façon de penser et d’enrichir l’expérience de nature.
L’humain moderne vit une transformation de son environnement et de son mode de vie qui impactent la façon dont il peut vivre des expériences de nature au quotidien. Or, ces expériences de nature sont d'une grande importance pour le bien-être et la santé des individus. Ce sont des phénomènes complexes, ancrés dans un contexte environnemental, mais aussi socio-culturel, qui reposent sur des composantes étroitement mêlées que sont les émotions, les souvenirs, les connaissances, mais aussi tous les stimuli sensoriels perçus. Parmi les sens mobilisés, l’odorat, de par son importance mémorielle et émotionnelle, semble jouer un rôle à part dans la relation que tisse l’humain à la nature. C’est à ce rôle de l’olfaction dans l’expérience de nature, à cette part olfactive de l’expérience, que s’intéresse cette thèse s’articulant autour de trois axes de recherches et de réflexion. Dans un premier chapitre, ce manuscrit aborde comment caractériser la part olfactive de l’expérience de nature d’un point de vue individuel. La réflexion de ce chapitre se base sur la mise en œuvre et l’analyse des réponses à un questionnaire articulant entre eux l’olfaction, l’identité et les usages sensoriels d’espaces de nature déclarés par les individus. Dans le deuxième chapitre, c’est la façon dont l’expérience olfactive de nature s’ancre dans un environnement et un contexte qui est abordée, et comment cet ancrage influence la façon dont l’individu vit et décrit son expérience olfactive. La réflexion de ce chapitre s’appuie sur des témoignages recueillis lors de parcours olfactifs commentés et des questionnaires in situ. Enfin, en se basant sur les résultats des études précédentes, le troisième et dernier chapitre s’intéresse à la façon dont l’expérience olfactive de nature peut avoir un rôle transformateur sur l’individu dans le cadre particulier des environnements restaurateurs. En guise de conclusion, ce manuscrit aborde des réflexions, des ouvertures théoriques et pratiques, et des applications que peuvent apporter les résultats du travail de thèse, notamment la place que le sensoriel, l’incarné et l’olfactif pourraient prendre à l’avenir dans la façon de penser et d’enrichir l’expérience de nature.
Two studies examined which traits males and females desire in partners at various levels of relationship development in an attempt to integrate evolutionary models (which emphasize sex differences) and social exchange models (which emphasize self-appraisals). In Study 1, male and female students specified their minimum criteria on 24 traits for a date, sexual partner, exclusive dating partner, marriage partner, and 1-night sexual liaison. They also rated themselves on the same dimensions. Sex differences were greatest for casual sexual liaisons, with men's criteria being consistently lower than women's. Men's self-ratings were generally less correlated with their criteria for a 1-night stand, as well. Study 2 replicated the findings of Study 1, adding several modifications, including a measure of Ss' sex typing. Sex typing had few effects. The advantages of combining social psychological and evolutionary perspectives are discussed.
Whereas the sexual lives of college students have been the focus of many research studies, there is very little research on those young adults who have chosen to remain virgins. In this study, 97 virgin men and 192 virgin women from a Midwestern U.S. university were surveyed about the reasons they were virgins, their affective reactions to their virginity status, and other aspects of their virginity (e.g., the social pressure they received to remain a virgin vs. to become sexually active). As hypothesized, women rated more reasons for virginity (particularly interpersonal ones) as important and had more positive reactions (were more proud and happy and less embarrassed and guilty) about being a virgin than did men. Women reported more social pressure than did men to remain a virgin, and men were more likely than women to expect to become a nonvirgin in the near future. Associations among the reasons, affective reactions, and other aspects of virginity were examined for men versus women. Because data were collected from cohorts of virgin students over six years (1990-1995), differences in perceptions of virginity over time were also examined. More recent cohorts of virgins felt more pride about their virginity status and were more likely to report that fear of AIDS and STDs were reasons they remained chaste.
Two studies of university undergraduates used novel measures to explore sex differences and intrasexual variation in mate preferences and sexual behavior. Study 1 used photographs of models to assess the effects of sex of subject and target persons’ ambition/income on judgments of dating, sexual, and marital desirability, and analyzed these effects’ associations with subjects’ sexual attitudes and behavior (Simpson’s and Gangestad’s Sociosexual Orientation Inventory [SOI]). Results were consistent with the proposed model of mate selection: for men, potential partners’ physical attributes establish a pool of coitally acceptable partners, some of whom may merit long-term investment. When women choose partners, nonphysical characteristics such as ambition, status, and dominance establish a pool of partners who are potentially acceptable for sexual relations and higher-investment relationships. Target persons’ ambition/income strongly affected women’s, but not men’s, reported willingness to date and have sex with target persons, and the effects on women were not associated with their SOI scores. Study 2 used photographs of models in bathing suits to explore sex differences in the capacity to determine coital acceptability by means of a visual scan, what types of information men and women need in addition to a visual scan in order to determine coital acceptability, and whether these variables are associated with subjects’ SOI scores. Results were consistent with the hypotheses. Women with high SOI scores require fewer signs of male willingness to invest in order to engage in sexual relations than do women with low scores. Nevertheless, the two groups have essentially the same perceptual filters and criteria in mate selection, and these differ dramatically from those of men. A “tradeoff-threshold” model of mate evaluation is described, and its compatibility with Singh’s models is discussed.
A survey study examining the relative importance of various social and physical traits in heterosexual attraction was conducted. Data from 198 male and female heterosexual college students revealed that women ranked body odor as more important for attraction than “looks” or any social factor except “pleasantness.” Moreover, in contrast to response to fragrance use, liking someone's natural body odor was the most influential olfactory variable for sexual interest for both men and women. Men rated a woman's good looks as most desirable and as more important than any other factor except pleasantness. Sex differences in the relative ranking of several social factors were consistent with prior research.
The Children’s Olfactory Behavior in Everyday Life questionnaire was developed to assess attention
to, and uses of, odors in real-life situations, and to evaluate individual variations. The tool comprises
16 items prompting self-reports of active seeking, awareness and affective reactivity to odors of food,
people and the environment. Children (102 girls, 113 boys) aged 6–10 years participated in the study.
The results revealed that girls were significantly more olfaction-oriented than boys, especially towards
the odors of people, self and the environment. An increasing ability of children to describe the odor
facets of their perceptual world was found between 6 and 10 years, partly due to ameliorating verbal
skills. Finally, owning an “attachment object” was linked to olfactory reactivity to odors, especially
in social and affective contexts. Overall, this research contributes to expand our understanding of the
behavioral importance of odors in children and its individual variations, and it brings additional arguments
against the prevalent concept of functional microsmaty applied to the human species.
Everywhere the issue has been examined, people make discriminations about others’ physical attractiveness. Can human standards of physical attractiveness be understood through the lens of evolutionary biology? In the past decade, this question has guided much theoretical and empirical work. In this paper, we (a) outline the basic adaptationist approach that has guided the bulk of this work, (b) describe evolutionary models of signaling that have been applied to understand human physical attractiveness, and (c) discuss and evaluate specific lines of empirical research attempting to address the selective history of human standards of physical attractiveness. We also discuss ways evolutionary scientists have attempted to understand variability in standards of attractiveness across cultures as well as the ways current literature speaks to body modification in modern Western cultures. Though much work has been done, many fundamental questions remain unanswered.
Olfactory information is critical to mammalian sexual behavior. Based on parental investment theory the relative importance
of olfaction compared with vision, touch, and hearing should be different for human males and females. In particular, because
of its link to immunological profile and offspring viability, odor should be a more important determinant of sexual choice
and arousal for females than for males. To test this hypothesis a questionnaire was developed and administered to 332 adults
(166 males, 166 females). Subjects used a 1–7 scale to indicate how much they agreed with a series of statements concerning
the importance of olfactory, visual, auditory, and tactile information for their sexual responsivity. The data reveal that
males rated visual and olfactory information as being equally important for selecting a lover, while females considered olfactory
information to be the single most important variable in mate choice. Additionally, when considering sexual activity, females
singled out body odor from all other sensory experiences as most able to negatively affect desire, while males regarded odors
as much more neutral stimuli for sexual arousal. The present results support recent findings in mice and humans concerning
the relation of female preferences in body odor and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) compatibility and can be explained
by an evolutionary analysis of sex differences in reproductive strategies. This work represents the first direct examination
of the role of different forms of sensory information in human sexual behavior.
Two studies examined which traits males and females desire in partners at various levels of relationship development in an attempt to integrate evolutionary models (which emphasize sex differences) and social exchange models (which emphasize self-appraisals). In Study 1, male and female students specified their minimum criteria on 24 traits for a date, sexual partner, exclusive dating partner, marriage partner, and 1-night sexual liaison. They also rated themselves on the same dimensions. Sex differences were greatest for casual sexual liaisons, with men's criteria being consistently lower than women's. Men's self-ratings were generally less correlated with their criteria for a 1-night stand, as well. Study 2 replicated the findings of Study 1, adding several modifications, including a measure of Ss' sex typing. Sex typing had few effects. The advantages of combining social psychological and evolutionary perspectives are discussed.
This study used kinematics to investigate the integration between vision and olfaction during grasping movements. Participants were requested to smell an odorant and then grasp an object presented in central vision. The results indicate that if the target was small (e.g., a strawberry), the time and amplitude of maximum hand aperture were later and greater, respectively, when the odor evoked a larger object (e.g., an orange) than when the odor evoked an object of a similar size as the target or no odor was presented. Conversely, the time and amplitude of maximum hand aperture were earlier and reduced, respectively, when the target was large (e.g., a peach) and the odor evoked a smaller sized object (e.g., an almond) than when the odor evoked an object of a similar size as the target or no odor was presented. Taken together, these results support the evidence of cross-modal links between olfaction and vision and extend this notion to goal-directed actions.
Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy (NVP) is a pervasive and debilitating phenomenon in humans. Several adaptive explanations for NVP occurrence have been recently proposed, the two most prominent of which predict associations with nutritional intake or specific dietary components. Here we extend previous cross-cultural analyses by analysing associations between NVP prevalence in 56 studies (21 countries) and quantitative estimates of per capita intake across major dietary categories, measured for the year of study by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Rates of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy were correlated with high intake of macronutrients (kilocalories, protein, fat, carbohydrate), as well as sugars, stimulants, meat, milk and eggs, and with low intake of cereals and pulses. Restricting analyses to studies from North America and Europe caused relationships between macronutrient intake and NVP to disappear, suggesting that they might be influenced by non-dietary confounds associated with geographical region of study. However, factor analysis of dietary components revealed one factor significantly associated with NVP rate, which was characterized by low cereal consumption and high intake of sugars, oilcrops, alcohol and meat. The results provide further evidence for an association between diet and NVP prevalence across populations, and support for the idea that NVP serves an adaptive prophylactic function against potentially harmful foodstuffs.
Body odour may provide significant cues about a potential sexual partner's genetic quality, reproductive status and health. In animals, a key trait in a female's choice of sexual partner is male dominance but, to date, this has not been examined in humans. Here, we show that women in the fertile phase of their cycle prefer body odour of males who score high on a questionnaire-based dominance scale (international personality items pool). In accordance with the theory of mixed mating strategies, this preference varies with relationship status, being much stronger in fertile women in stable relationships than in fertile single women.
The past decade has witnessed a rapidly growing interest in the biological basis of human mate choice. Here we review recent studies that demonstrate preferences for traits which might reveal genetic quality to prospective mates, with potential but still largely unknown influence on offspring fitness. These include studies assessing visual, olfactory and auditory preferences for potential good-gene indicator traits, such as dominance or bilateral symmetry. Individual differences in these robust preferences mainly arise through within and between individual variation in condition and reproductive status. Another set of studies have revealed preferences for traits indicating complementary genes, focussing on discrimination of dissimilarity at genes in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). As in animal studies, we are only just beginning to understand how preferences for specific traits vary and inter-relate, how consideration of good and compatible genes can lead to substantial variability in individual mate choice decisions and how preferences expressed in one sensory modality may reflect those in another. Humans may be an ideal model species in which to explore these interesting complexities.
The past decade has witnessed a rapidly growing interest in the biological basis of human mate choice. Here we review recent studies that demonstrate preferences for traits which might reveal genetic quality to prospective mates, with potential but still largely unknown influence on offspring fitness. These include studies assessing visual, olfactory and auditory preferences for potential good-gene indicator traits, such as dominance or bilateral symmetry. Individual differences in these robust preferences mainly arise through within and between individual variation in condition and reproductive status. Another set of studies have revealed preferences for traits indicating complementary genes, focussing on discrimination of dissimilarity at genes in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). As in animal studies, we are only just beginning to understand how preferences for specific traits vary and inter-relate, how consideration of good and compatible genes can lead to substantial variability in individual mate choice decisions and how preferences expressed in one sensory modality may reflect those in another. Humans may be an ideal model species in which to explore these interesting complexities.
Acknowledgements Introduction: The Meaning and Power of Smell Part I: In Search of Lost Scents 1. The Aromas of Antiquity 2. Following the Scent: From the Middle Ages to Modernity Part II: Explorations in Olfactory Difference 3. Universes of Odour 4. The Rites of Smell Part III: Odour, Power and Society 5. Odour and Power: The Politics of Smell 6. The Aroma of the Commodity: The Commercialization of Smell Bibliography
Advertisements from 'Lonely Hearts' columns in four US newspapers are used to test hypotheses about mate preferences by male and Female humans. We first confirm conventional findings that, in general, men prefer young women whose reproductive value is high while women prefer men who are slightly older than themselves, that women seek resources while men seek physical attractiveness and that women are more choosy than men. We then go on to test a series of predictions derived from the hypothesis that an individual's preferences in these respects are likely to be contingent on what he/she has to offer. We show that women tend to become less demanding as they age (probably because reproductive value declines with age), whereas males become more demanding (probably because resources increase with age), that women (but not men) offering cues of physical attractiveness make higher demands than those that do not, that men (but not women) offering resources make higher demands than those that do not, that men with few resources to offer attempt to offset this disadvantage by offering cues of family commitment, that men and women with dependent offspring make lower demands than those without and that individuals from higher socio-economic groups (who are likely to have more resources to offer) make more demands than those from lower socio-economic groups.
A previous study by the authors showed that the body scent of men who have greater body bilateral symmetry is rated as more attractive by normally ovulating (non-pill-using) women during the period of highest fertility based on day within the menstrual cycle. Women in low-fertility phases of the cycle and women using hormone-based con-traceptives do not show this pattern. The current study replicated these findings with a larger sample and statistically controlled for men's hygiene and other factors that were not controlled in the first study. The current study also examined women's scent attrac-tiveness to men and found no evidence that men prefer the scent of symmetric women. We propose that the scent of symmetry is an honest signal of phenotypic and genetic quality in the human male, and chemical candidates are discussed. In both sexes, facial attractiveness (as judged from photos) appears to predict body scent attractiveness to the opposite sex. Women's preference for the scent associated with men's facial attrac-tiveness is greatest when their fertility is highest across the menstrual cycle. The results overall suggest that women have an evolved preference for sires with good genes. © 1999 Elsevier Science Inc.
Extremely high variability in genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) in vertebrates is assumed to be a consequence of frequency-dependent parasite-driven selection and mate preferences based on promotion of offspring heterozygosity at MHC, or potentially, genome-wide inbreeding avoidance. Where effects have been found, mate choice studies on rodents and other species usually find preference for MHC-dissimilarity in potential partners. Here we critically review studies on MHC-associated mate choice in humans. These are based on three broadly different aspects: (1) odor preferences, (2) facial preferences and (3) actual mate choice surveys. As in animal studies, most odor-based studies demonstrate disassortative preferences, although there is variation in the strength and nature of the effects. In contrast, facial attractiveness research indicates a preference for MHC-similar individuals. Results concerning MHC in actual couples show a bias towards similarity in one study, dissimilarity in two studies and random distribution in several other studies. These vary greatly in sample size and heterogeneity of the sample population, both of which may significantly bias the results. This pattern of mixed results across studies may reflect context-dependent and/or life history sensitive preference expression, in addition to higher level effects arising out of population differences in genetic heterogeneity or cultural and ethnic restrictions on random mating patterns. Factors of special relevance in terms of individual preferences are reproductive status and long- vs. short-term mating context. We discuss the idea that olfactory and visual channels may work in a complementary way (i.e. odor preference for MHC-dissimilarity and visual preference for MHC-similarity) to achieve an optimal level of genetic variability, methodological issues and interesting avenues for further research.
While it has been reported that most, if not all, very young children are able to detect the odor of 5 alpha-androst-16-en-3-one (androstenone), approximately 40-50% of human adults cannot detect its odor. The present study focused on changes in sensitivity to androstenone during adolescence, which may account for this discrepancy. Sensitivity to androstenone was determined in 247 subjects aged 6 to 50. There was a significant increase in the number of males anosmic to androstenone between 9-14 and 15-20 years of age, and a significant increase in threshold with age among males able to detect the odor. We infer that a smaller percentage of females than males becomes anosmic to the odor of androstenone during development, and those able to detect it apparently show a decrease in threshold with age. No age-related changes were observed in tests of pyridine or d,l-beta-phenylethylmethylethylcarbinol (PEMEC).
We previously found that untrained subjects make nonrandom color matches to odors and that the color matches are stable over time (Gilbert, Martin, & Kemp, 1996). Here we investigate further aspects of the cross-modal associations between vision and olfaction: whether perceptual dimensions of odor vary systemically with those of vision. Subjects matched Munsell color chips to five odors presented at three concentrations; they also rated odor intensity. Significant negative correlations between Munsell value and perceived odor intensity were found for three odors. The results suggest that stronger odors were associated with darker colors. The cross-modal relationship between vision and olfaction appears to be dimensional: Color lightness varies inversely with perceived odor intensity. This finding parallels the dimensional relations found between other modalities (e.g., lightness varies with loudness).
Humans, like other mammals, are capable of discriminating between kin and non-kin by olfactory cues alone. Shortly after birth, breastfed infants become familiar with, and respond preferentially to, their mother's unique odor signature. Mothers likewise recognize the characteristic scent of their newborn infant. Close biological relatives share somewhat similar odor signatures (presumably resulting from genetically mediated similarities in bodily biochemistry and metabolism) that could facilitate kin recognition.
The sex of individuals plays an important part in determining their olfactory abilities, with females generally being superior to males. The present review examines the way in which sex differences influence sensitivity, identification, familiarity, and recognition of odours. It also examines whether sex differences are more pronounced with some odours than others, and how sex differences are affected by the manner of testing. Two different explanations for the superiority of females over males in olfaction are evaluated.
Previous findings indicating that pregnant women experience a shift in odor sensitivity and hedonics raise the question of whether these changes evoke adverse reactions to odorous and pungent environmental substances in daily activities, to a larger extent in pregnant than in nonpregnant women. Forty-four women in pregnancy weeks 21-23 and 44 nonpregnant women were therefore compared with respect to affective reactions to and behavioral disruptions by odorous/pungent daily environments by means of the questionnaire-based, 21-item Chemical Sensitivity Scale (CSS). This scale refers to neurasthenic and sensory/somatic symptoms and includes the 11 items of the Chemical Sensitivity Scale for Sensory Hyperreactivity (CSS-SHR). This latter scale refers predominantly to sensory/somatic symptoms. To investigate whether there is a general environmental hypersensitivity during pregnancy, the Noise Sensitivity Scale (NSS) was used that is analogous to the CSS (including 11 NSS items corresponding to those of the CSS-SHR; "NSS-SHR"). Results show that the two groups were similar with respect to scores on both the CSS and NSS, whereas the pregnant women had higher scores than the nonpregnant women on the CSS-SHR, but not on the "NSS-SHR". These results suggest that pregnant women to a larger extent than nonpregnant women manifest an odor intolerance that affects their daily activities, with predominantly sensory/somatic symptoms, which appears not to be due to a general environmental hypersensitivity. This behavior may have embryo- and maternal-protective functions.
Distinct differences in the behaviour and preferences of men and women have conventionally been attributed to Trivers' powerful insights regarding the impact of parental investment on sexual selection and mating systems. This has spawned a huge literature about the evolutionary significance of human sex differences. But are men and women really so different? An elegant new study shows that men and women are strikingly similar in their mate preferences. Have conventional models blinded us to the obvious, and precluded the posing of far more interesting questions?
Are men and women really so different? Trends in Ecology and Evolution
- M B Mulder
Mulder, M. B. (2004). Are men and women really so different? Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 19, 3–6.
Sexualni chovani v CR – Situace a trendy (Sexual behavior in Czech Republic – Situation and trends) Portal
- P Weiss
- J Zverina
Weiss, P., & Zverina, J. (2001). Sexualni chovani v CR – Situace a trendy (Sexual behavior in Czech Republic – Situation and trends). Portal: Prague.