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The self-reported importance of olfaction during human mate choice
Abstract
This study evaluated sex differences in the relative importance placed on olfactory cues during mate choice. To evaluate this 151 men and 289 women completed an on-line version of the Romantic Interests Survey (RIS) (Herz & Inzlict, 2002). Olfactory characteristics were declared to be extremely important during mate selection, more so than almost all other characteristics, but did not significantly differ between the sexes. There were significant differences concerning the odour source that individuals attend to, with greater preferences observed for a potential mate’s body odour as opposed to artificial fragrances they use. These findings suggest the body odour characteristics of a potential mate are perceived to be an important factor during mate choice. Published (author's copy) Peer Reviewed
... The significance of olfaction extends beyond mere odor perception. It influences taste perception, aids in detecting danger through noxious odor recognition, affects our mood, and even contributes to social interactions through detecting pheromones and subtle emotional cues conveyed by scent [5][6][7][8][9]. The brain centers mediating the sense of smell functionally overlap with centers for processing emotions, moods, and memory formation. ...
... The brain centers mediating the sense of smell functionally overlap with centers for processing emotions, moods, and memory formation. Therefore, the loss of smell is associated with an increased susceptibility to depression [4][5][6][7]9]. ...
... Breathing difficulties and discomfort associated with nasal issues may limit an individual's ability to engage in physical activities. This can contribute to a sedentary lifestyle, impacting overall physical health and well-being [1,5,7,9]. ...
Objective: This study was designed to evaluate the possibility of predicting the minimum size of septal resection for safe tumor extraction in transnasal paraseptal pituitary adenoma resection from preoperative computed tomography scans. Methods: A retrospective CT scan analysis was performed on 20 patients who underwent endoscopic pituitary surgery at the University Hospital in Ostrava. Virtual insertion of the straight instrument into the sphenoid cavity was simulated using a CT scan. The minimum septal resection size was predicted and compared to various diameters in the nasal cavity. The results were then compared with cadaveric dissections, in which septal resections were performed at 1 cm and 2 cm distances from the anterior sphenoid wall. The association between cadaver dissections and CT scan results was studied. Results: A total of 20 patients who underwent endoscopic transnasal surgery for pituitary adenoma between the years 2020 and 2021 were enrolled in the study. The mean virtual posterior septal size resection needed to reach the medial edge of the ICA with the straight instrument, without infracturing the nasal septum, was 13.2 mm. In cadavers with a 1 cm posterior septal resection, the medial edge of the ICA was reached with the straight instrument. In 2 cm resections, it was possible to reach beyond the lateral edge of the ICA. Conclusion: There is no significant correlation between the minimum septal size resection and measured diameters in the nasal cavity. According to our study, a 1 cm resection is sufficient for a non-extended pituitary tumor extraction. More extensive septal resections allow for better maneuverability and overview in the surgical field.
... Olfactory social cues can be important parts of the mate selection process, though there are individual differences as to the value of such cues. Heterosexual individuals value olfactory information relatively highly in mate selection (Herz and Inzlicht 2002;Sergeant et al. 2005;Havlíček et al. 2008;White and Cunningham 2017), possibly because odor may function as a cue to reproductive fitness. It is not clear whether a sex difference exists regarding the importance of olfaction; some literature indicates no difference between the sexes (Sergeant et al. 2005;White and Cunningham 2017), while other studies report that the scent of a potential lover is more important to heterosexual women than to men (Herz and Inzlicht 2002;Havlíček et al. 2008). ...
... Heterosexual individuals value olfactory information relatively highly in mate selection (Herz and Inzlicht 2002;Sergeant et al. 2005;Havlíček et al. 2008;White and Cunningham 2017), possibly because odor may function as a cue to reproductive fitness. It is not clear whether a sex difference exists regarding the importance of olfaction; some literature indicates no difference between the sexes (Sergeant et al. 2005;White and Cunningham 2017), while other studies report that the scent of a potential lover is more important to heterosexual women than to men (Herz and Inzlicht 2002;Havlíček et al. 2008). The literature is consistent, however, in within-group differences that emphasize the importance of olfaction over other traits for heterosexual women; the way that a potential mate smells is more important to that group than most of the other personal traits evaluated (Herz and Inzlicht 2002;Havlíček et al. 2008;White and Cunningham 2017). ...
... The differences previously reported in the literature between men and women were weakly observed, with women placing more value on at least one aspect of olfactory information in selecting a romantic partner than men (Herz and Inzlicht 2002;Havlíček et al. 2008). However, when responses to the smell-related questions on the RIS were distilled to their component attitudes, neither attitude was predicted by the interaction with OAS score and sex, suggesting that olfactory information is valuable in mate selection to both men and women (Sergeant et al. 2005;White and Cunningham 2017). Because OAS scores also differed by sex in keeping with the previous literature (Demattè et al. 2011;Nováková et al. 2014;Allen et al. 2016) with women being more aware of odors than men, and OAS scores were predictive of the first RIS principal component while the main effect of sex was not, the present results suggest that odor awareness rather than sex per se may account for some previous apparent sex differences. ...
Introduction: Many people seem to be looking for similar attributes when searching for a potential romantic partner. Olfactory social cues can be important parts of the process, though there are individual differences as to their value. Gay men, for example, value scent less in selecting a romantic partner than do heterosexual men (White and Cunningham 2017). Is it possible that the relative importance of olfaction in mate selection is simply a natural consequence of being generally aware of odorants?
Method: The present study examined the relationship between odor awareness and odor importance in mating in two studies. Participants in each of the studies completed both the Romantic Interest Survey (Herz and Inzlich 2002) and the Odor Awareness Survey (Smeets et al. 2008). In the first study, 455 college-aged heterosexual individuals were surveyed, while in the second study, 453 individuals varying in sexual preference (142 heterosexual women, 161 heterosexual men, and 150 gay men) completed the questionnaires.
Results: Principle components analyses from both studies revealed two different components underlying scores on the RIS; one component best accounted for OAS scores. Regression analysis for both studies indicated that OAS scores predicted the first RIS principle component, but not the second one.
Conclusions: The value of odorants in selecting a romantic partner seems to reflect two different underlying attitudes. The first attitude values all aspects of the smell of a lover, while the second only finds it important that the lover does not smell badly. Odor awareness is related only to the first of these attitudes.
Implications: These findings suggest that odor awareness accounts for some of the attitudes concerning the value of odors in mate selection, but not all of them. Other factors, such as the need to avoid aversive stimuli may also contribute to the relative importance of olfaction in selecting a partner.
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... Olfactory social cues can be important parts of the mate selection process, though there are individual differences as to the value of such cues. Heterosexual individuals value olfactory information relatively highly in mate selection (Herz and Inzlicht 2002;Sergeant et al. 2005;Havlíček et al. 2008;White and Cunningham 2017), possibly because odor may function as a cue to reproductive fitness. It is not clear whether a sex difference exists regarding the importance of olfaction; some literature indicates no difference between the sexes (Sergeant et al. 2005;White and Cunningham 2017), while other studies report that the scent of a potential lover is more important to heterosexual women than to men (Herz and Inzlicht 2002;Havlíček et al. 2008). ...
... Heterosexual individuals value olfactory information relatively highly in mate selection (Herz and Inzlicht 2002;Sergeant et al. 2005;Havlíček et al. 2008;White and Cunningham 2017), possibly because odor may function as a cue to reproductive fitness. It is not clear whether a sex difference exists regarding the importance of olfaction; some literature indicates no difference between the sexes (Sergeant et al. 2005;White and Cunningham 2017), while other studies report that the scent of a potential lover is more important to heterosexual women than to men (Herz and Inzlicht 2002;Havlíček et al. 2008). The literature is consistent, however, in within-group differences that emphasize the importance of olfaction over other traits for heterosexual women; the way that a potential mate smells is more important to that group than most of the other personal traits evaluated (Herz and Inzlicht 2002;Havlíček et al. 2008;White and Cunningham 2017). ...
... The differences previously reported in the literature between men and women were weakly observed, with women placing more value on at least one aspect of olfactory information in selecting a romantic partner than men (Herz and Inzlicht 2002;Havlíček et al. 2008). However, when responses to the smell-related questions on the RIS were distilled to their component attitudes, neither attitude was predicted by the interaction with OAS score and sex, suggesting that olfactory information is valuable in mate selection to both men and women (Sergeant et al. 2005;White and Cunningham 2017). Because OAS scores also differed by sex in keeping with the previous literature (Demattè et al. 2011;Nováková et al. 2014;Allen et al. 2016) with women being more aware of odors than men, and OAS scores were predictive of the first RIS principal component while the main effect of sex was not, the present results suggest that odor awareness rather than sex per se may account for some previous apparent sex differences. ...
Introduction
Many people seem to be looking for similar attributes when searching for a potential romantic partner. Olfactory social cues can be important parts of the process, though there are individual differences as to their value. Gay men, for example, value scent less in selecting a romantic partner than do heterosexual men (White and Cunningham, Chemosens Percept 10:31–41, 2017). Is it possible that the relative importance of olfaction in mate selection is simply a natural consequence of being generally aware of odorants?
Method
The present study examined the relationship between odor awareness and odor importance in mating in two studies. Participants in each of the studies completed both the Romantic Interests Survey (Herz and Inzlich, Evol Hum Behav 23:359–364, 2002) and the Odor Awareness Survey (Smeets et al., Chem Senses 33:725–734, 2008). In the first study, 455 college-aged heterosexual individuals were surveyed, while in the second study, 453 individuals varying in sexual preference (142 heterosexual women, 161 heterosexual men, and 150 gay men) completed the questionnaires.
Results
Principle components analyses from both studies revealed two different components underlying scores on the RIS; one component best accounted for OAS scores. Regression analysis for both studies indicated that OAS scores predicted the first RIS principle component, but not the second one.
Conclusions
The value of odorants in selecting a romantic partner seems to reflect two different underlying attitudes. The first attitude values all aspects of the smell of a lover, while the second only finds it important that the lover does not smell badly. Odor awareness is related only to the first of these attitudes.
Implications
These findings suggest that odor awareness accounts for some of the attitudes concerning the value of odors in mate selection, but not all of them. Other factors, such as the need to avoid aversive stimuli, may also contribute to the relative importance of olfaction in selecting a partner.
... The finding that olfactory information is more valuable to women has typically been given an evolutionary explanation (e.g., Herz and Cahill 1997), since ensuring the genetic compatibility of a potential male partner would allow a female to select allele combinations that would minimize deleterious mutations and maximize protection from diseases for the offspring. It is worth noting, however, that a study involving a slightly older sample of people (18-50 years) has been reported that did not show a difference between the sexes in terms of the value of olfactory cues, though it was still very important in mate selection for both men and women (Sergeant et al. 2005). This divergence in findings might be explained in terms of the usefulness of olfactory cues in determining reproductive fitness of a potential partner, as roughly 12% of the sample in one study (Sergeant et al. 2005) were of an age when reproduction becomes less likely (30-50 years), while other studies used a college-aged population (e.g., Herz and Inzlicht 2002) for whom reproduction is highly relevant. ...
... It is worth noting, however, that a study involving a slightly older sample of people (18-50 years) has been reported that did not show a difference between the sexes in terms of the value of olfactory cues, though it was still very important in mate selection for both men and women (Sergeant et al. 2005). This divergence in findings might be explained in terms of the usefulness of olfactory cues in determining reproductive fitness of a potential partner, as roughly 12% of the sample in one study (Sergeant et al. 2005) were of an age when reproduction becomes less likely (30-50 years), while other studies used a college-aged population (e.g., Herz and Inzlicht 2002) for whom reproduction is highly relevant. In addition, other differences, such as the percentage of non-heterosexual respondents, may exist between the papers. ...
... Although some research suggests greater differences between the sexes than between sexual orientations in mate selection (Bailey et al. 1994), there may well be a role for olfaction in finding an appropriate sexual partner. Information about sexual orientation may also be provided by olfactory cues (Lübke and Pause 2015), as sexual orientation has been demonstrated to influence the perception of body odor (Lübke et al. 2009;Sergeant et al. 2005;Martins et al. 2005). For example, gay men are more sensitive to the smell of androstenone (a chemical that contributes highly to male complex body odor) than are heterosexual men (Lübke et al. 2009). ...
IntroductionOlfactory cues are important in mating in many species, including humans. These odorants may be relevant because of their value as a cue to the reproductive fitness of a potential mate (Trivers 1972), but they could also be important as a signal of mate appropriateness in terms of sexual preference (Lübke and Pause 2015). One way to discriminate between these ideas is to examine whether the importance of olfaction in determining a mate is decreased in homosexual individuals, for whom selecting a mate is dissociated from the selection of a reproductive partner. The present research question asked whether the value of olfactory cues for attraction varies between homosexual and heterosexual groups. Method
The present study examined odor importance in mating by presenting the Romantic Interest Survey (Herz and Inzlich 2002) to 453 individuals: 142 heterosexual women, 161 heterosexual men, and 150 gay men. ResultsRegression analysis indicated that heterosexual men valued the sense of smell when selecting a mate more than gay men did. In contrast, gay men valued the sound of a partner’s voice more than did heterosexual men. Heterosexual men and women did not differ by sex in terms of the value of olfaction; both men and women value olfactory aspects of a potential mate highly. Conclusions
The higher value of olfactory cues to heterosexual individuals supports the idea that olfaction in mate selection may act as a cue to reproductive fitness, and indicates that olfactory information is not as valuable to gay men in mate selection. ImplicationsThese findings suggest that many people seem to be looking for similar attributes when searching for a potential romantic partner, and that olfaction is an important aspect of the process.
... Ciertos estudios muestran que el olor es de especial relevancia para las mujeres que eli gen un amante, mientras que la visión juega el papel principal en las evaluaciones de este tipo realizadas por hombres (Herz & Inzlicht, 2002;Sergeant, Davies, Dickins & Griffiths, 2005). Sin embargo, Foster (2008) advirtió que estos hallazgos podrían deberse al uso de auto-reportes. ...
... La hipótesis 3 también resultó desacertada: no hubo diferencias en los puntajes pa ra Atractivo Visual entre los dos tipos de estímulo (homo y heterosexual). Respecto a lo anterior, ciertos estudios muestran que mientras el olor es de especial relevancia para los juicios de atractivo que hacen mujeres, la visión juega un papel más importante en las evaluaciones de ese tipo que hacen hombres (Herz & Inzlicht, 2002;Sergeant et al., 2005). En otras palabras, la visión es más relevante que el olfato en la elección de pareja que hacen los hombres. ...
Las investigaciones sobre el papel de los sentidos en la elección de pareja que hacen hombres y mujeres han confirmado la presencia de procesos a nivel neurofisiológico cuya influencia va más allá de las decisiones conscientes que pudieran tomarse en cuanto a la pareja con la que deciden estar. Sin embargo, la mayoría de las investigaciones realizadas hasta ahora tienen un enfoque en parejas heterosexuales y son pocos los estudios que examinan el papel de los sentidos en la elección de pareja que hacen las personas homosexuales. El objetivo del estudio realizado fue evaluar la importancia y la relación que tienen el olfato y la visión en la atracción de hombres homosexuales hacia hombres, tanto hetero como homosexuales. Un grupo de 14 hombres homosexuales evaluó el atractivo de fotografías y camisetas (remera de algodón de mangas cortas) provenientes de hombres hetero y homosexuales. Los resultados indicaron que el olor de las camisetas utilizadas por hombres homosexuales resultó significativamente más atractivo que el olor de las camisetas utilizadas por hombres heterosexuales en las evaluaciones realizadas. Por otra parte, se realizaron análisis de regresión múltiple y sus resultados mostraron que el atractivo del olor de las camisetas utilizadas por hombres homosexuales predice significativamente el atractivo global de estos hombres. Estos resultados sugieren la presencia de una capacidad en hombres homosexuales para distinguir inconscientemente a hombres heterosexuales de hombres homosexuales a partir de estímulos olfativos, lo que a su vez apunta a una constitución neurofisiológica en particular, invitando a realizar más investigaciones en el tema.
... Despite people trying to suppress or change their natural body odor, at least in western cultures, it is this same natural body odor that seems to be one of the most important features in human mate choice. Body odor is considered as essentially linked to physical attractiveness (Franzoi and Herzog, 1987), and is even judged as more important in mate choice than physical attractiveness itself (Sergeant et al., 2005). Especially women seem to rely on body odors when judging attractiveness and choosing a potential partner (Havlicek et al., 2008;Herz and Cahill, 1997;Herz and Inzlicht, 2002). ...
... Severe acute or chronic stress prompts the organism to adjust to the stressor, either by fighting, escaping, or by strengthening social bonds between conspecifics (Taylor et al., 2000). However, if the organism fails to restore healthy physiological conditions, the consequences of chronic stress will include the collapse of organ functions, and in the long run inevitably cause the organism's death (Selye, 1976). Thus, stress protection is among the most important prerequisites for ontogenetic survival. ...
This article is part of a Special Issue "Chemosignals and Reproduction" Across phyla, chemosensory communication is crucial for mediating a variety of social behaviors, which form the basis for ontogenetic and phylogenetic survival. In the present paper, evidence on chemosensory communication in humans, with special reference to reproduction and survival, will be presented. First, the impact of chemosignals on human reproduction will be reviewed. Work will be presented, showing how chemosensory signals are involved in mate choice and partnership formation by communicating attractiveness and facilitating a partner selection, which is of evolutionary advantage, and furthermore providing information about the level of sexual hormones. In addition to direct effects on phylogenetic survival, chemosignals indirectly aid reproductive success by fostering harm protection. Results will be presented, showing that chemosensory communication aids the emotional bond between mother and child, which in turn motivates parental caretaking and protection, leading to infant survival. Moreover, the likelihood of group survival can be increased through the use of stress-related chemosignals. Stress-related chemosignals induce a stress-related physiology in the perceiver, thereby priming a fight-flight-response, which is necessary for an optimum adaption to environmental harm. Finally, effects of sexual orientation on chemosensory communication will be discussed in terms of their putative role in stabilizing social groups, which might indirectly provide harm protection and foster survival. An integrative model of the presented data will be introduced. In conclusion, an outlook, focusing on the involvement of chemosensory communication in human social behavior and illustrating a novel approach to the significance of chemosensory signals in human survival, will be given.
Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
... In general, women are more sensitive to biologically relevant olfactory stimuli, such as the pheromone androsterone (Wysocki & Gilbert, 1989). This last point, when combined with women's peak sensitivity to olfactory stimuli during the pre-ovulatory period (Good & Kopala, 2006), and the passive communication of mate quality through body odor (Sergeant, Davies, Dickins, & Griffiths, 2005), supports the biological relevance of the superior sensitivity of the woman's olfactory system. ...
... The olfactory sense contributes to the identification of, not only an individual, but also his/her gender (Russel, 1976), as well as certain emotional states (Stockhorst & Pietrowsky, 2004). Subconsciously, it affects mating behavior (Herz & Inzlicht, 2002;Sergeant et al., 2005). Specifically, it influences attraction and sexual partnering by affecting mood states (Jacob & McClintock, 2001), detecting immune system characteristics (Jacob, McClintock, Zelano, & Ober, 2002;Thornhill & Gangestad, 1999), genetic similarities (Eggert, Müller-Ruchholtz, & Ferstl, 1999), and female fertility (Poran, 1995). ...
Sex and race are understood to influence pain ratings but likely also affect other pain-related sequelae. This study examined the influences of sex and race on ratings of pain intensity, pain unpleasantness, pain-related negative mood, pain coping, and need for medical treatment. Seventy-five undergraduates viewed virtual humans expressing pain, and provided computerized ratings with Visual Analogue Scales. Mixed ANOVAs showed that male and female participants rated female virtual humans higher than male virtual humans on pain intensity, [F (1, 73) = 4.92, p < 0.05], pain unpleasantness, [F (1, 73) = 7.61, p < 0.01], pain-related negative mood, [F (1, 73) = 6.76, p < 0.05], poor pain coping, [F (1, 73) = 6.37, p < 0.05], and need for medical treatment, [F (1, 73) = 5.98, p < 0.05]. Male participants also rated African American and Caucasian virtual humans' need for medical treatment higher than females' ratings, (F (1, 73) = 4.02, p < 0.05). Caucasian and African American participants' ratings for female videos were higher than male videos only on pain intensity, [F (1, 73) = 6.93, p < 0.05] and pain unpleasantness, [F (1, 73) = 4.17, p < 0.05]. Caucasian virtual humans were viewed as having higher pain-related negative mood [F (1, 73) = 3.99, p = 0.05] and poorer pain coping [F (1, 73) = 6.86, p < 0.05] than African American virtual humans. African American virtual humans' pain intensity was rated higher only by African American participants [F (1, 73) = 4.73, p < 0.05]. Females' higher negative mood and poorer coping might be explained by the relationship between pain, mood, and coping. Males' tendency to seek more pain medications may explain their high levels of recommending virtual humans to seek treatment. Results also show that races may differ in sensitivity to pain expressions.
... Consistent with this theme, several survey studies have also shown that women report that body odor powerfully influences their attractiveness judgments (Franzoi & Herzog, 1987;Regan & Berscheid, 1995). In fact, research by Herz and colleagues (Herz & Cahill, 1997;Herz & Inzlicht, 2002) and others (e.g., Sergeant, Davies, Dickins, & Griffiths, 2005) suggests that body odor may be as, if not more, important than all other physical attractiveness cues, including visual (e.g., facial attractiveness). 1 For example, Herz and Inzlicht showed that, on average, women report that how men smell is the most important physical criterion for "initially choosing someone as a potential lover" (p. 362). ...
... It is notable that research directly comparing the importance of visual and olfactory cues of attractiveness has generally relied on retrospective self-report methods that ask participants to recall the importance of attractiveness cues (Herz & Cahill, 1997;Herz & Inzlicht, 2002;Sergeant et al., 2005). Survey research of this type may produce responses not entirely reflective of the real world. ...
Olfaction is an important determinant of attractiveness, possibly even more so than vision when judgments are made by women. However, research that directly compares these cues using actual stimuli (e.g., t-shirt odors) is lacking. In this study, 44 women rated the attractiveness of t-shirt odors and facial photographs of 21 men either independently (i.e., first rated t-shirts, then rated photographs) or together (i.e., made overall ratings on the basis of t-shirts and photographs presented simultaneously). Photograph ratings were far more predictive of overall attractiveness than were t-shirt ratings. This was true for female participants who were fertile or infertile (i.e., using hormonal birth control). Body odor only predicted overall attractiveness when fertile women made the ratings.
... Explicit use of odor in mate selection involves evaluation of a potential partner's body odor. Body odor, particularly natural odor (e.g., in the absence of any artificial odor enhancers), has been rated by both men and women as one of the most important characteristics in mate selection (Herz and Inzlicht 2002;Sergeant et al. 2005;White and Cunningham 2017). Additionally, perception of body odor has been shown to influence behavior of both the individual to whom the odor belongs and of smellers of the odor (Roberts and Havlicek 2012). ...
Olfactory information plays an important role in the attachment and bonding processes for both humans and non-human animals. Odor cues obtained via individual body odor facilitate attachment and bonding processes across species with regard to both mate selection and mother-infant bonding. The purpose of the present paper is to summarize the role of odor as it pertains to bond formation and maintenance in the mother-infant bond for human infants and non-human animal infants, and for mate selection among human adults and non-human animals. We then synthesize this summary with literature on attachment and existing evidence for the relationships between olfaction and attachment processes. Finally, we suggest avenues for areas of future research.
... Furthermore, the fact that in ecological situations body odors are rarely found alone (Allen et al. 2019) has never been considered before in emotional chemical communication studies. Body odors are an integral part of the sensory image we send to others, affecting our social interactions such as in mate choice (Franzoi and Herzog 1987;Sergeant et al. 2005). Trying to "control" these endogenous odors with exogenous ones has taken place almost universally since antiquity, with the use of fragrances, deodorants, or soaps. ...
Emotions can be communicated in social contexts through chemosignals contained in human body odors. The transmission of positive emotions via these signals has received little interest in past research focused mainly on negative emotional transmission. Furthermore, how the use of perfumed products might modulate this transmission remains poorly understood. To investigate human positive chemical communication, we explored the autonomic, verbal, and behavioral responses of receivers exposed to body odors of donors having undergone a within-subject positive or neutral mood induction procedure. These responses were compared with those obtained after exposure to the same body odors with added fragrance. Our findings suggest that positive emotions can be transmitted through body odor. They not only induced modifications at the physiological (heart rate) and verbal levels (perceived intensity and familiarity) but also at the behavioral level, with an improved performance on creativity tasks. Perfume did not modulate the physiological effects and had a synergistic effect on the positive body odor ratings (increased perceived differences between the neutral and positive body odor).
... With respect to olfaction, a negative relationship between cardiac interoceptive accuracy and olfactory functioning (assessed by detection threshold, odor discrimination, and odor identification) has also been found [38]. Olfaction is an integral part of daily life, from deciding what to eat [39] to recalling autobiographical memories [40], or even choosing a partner [41]. As one of our five senses (i.e., sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch), it helps interpret the salience of surrounding external stimuli and determines much of the human experience. ...
The fine-tuned interplay between the brain and the body underlies the adaptive ability to respond appropriately in the changing environment. Mindfulness Disposition (MD) has been associated with efficient emotional functioning because of a better ability to feel engaged by information from the body and to notice subtle changes. This interoceptive ability is considered to shape the ability to respond to external stimuli, especially olfaction. However, few studies have evaluated the relationships between interoception and exteroception according to MD. We conducted an exploratory study among 76 healthy subjects for first investigating whether MD is associated with better exteroception and second for describing the causal interactions network between mindfulness, interoception, emotion, and subjective and objective olfaction assessments. Results found that a high level of MD defined by clustering exhibited best scores in positive emotions, interoception, and extra sensors’ acuity. The causal network approach showed that the interactions between the interoception subscales differed according to the MD profiles. Moreover, interoception awareness is strongly connected with both the MD and the hedonic value of odors. Then, differences according to MD might provide arguments for a more mindful attention style toward interoceptive cues in relation to available exteroceptive information. This interaction might underlie positive health.
... 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’.
... Self-report data confirm that odors play a significant role in choosing a sexual partner: for women the smell of a partner's body odor was the most important variable; for men, smell was also important but did lag behind "good looks" as the critical feature. 174,175 More rigorous research in humans is needed to understand how olfactory inputs, detected by the MOS and conveyed via the Me to the hypothalamus, interact with visual, auditory, as well as non-sensory cognitive processing to determine mate choice together with sexual arousal leading to copulation. ...
We summarize literature from animal as well as human studies assessing sex differences in the ability of the main olfactory system to detect and process sex‐specific olfactory signals (‘pheromones’) that control the expression of psychosexual functions in males and females. A case is made in non primate mammals for an obligatory role of pheromonal signaling via the main olfactory system (in addition to the vomeronasal‐accessory olfactory system) in mate recognition and sexual arousal, with male‐specific as well as female‐specific pheromones subserving these functions in the opposite sex. Although the case for an obligatory role of pheromones in mate recognition and mating among old world primates, including humans, is weaker, we review the current literature assessing the role of putative human pheromones (e.g., AND; EST; ‘copulin’), detected by the main olfactory system, in promoting mate choice and mating in men and women. Based on animal studies, we hypothesize that sexually dimorphic effects of putative human pheromones are mediated via main olfactory inputs to the medial amygdala which, in turn, transmits olfactory information to sites in the hypothalamus that regulate reproduction. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This review discusses the role of main olfactory pathways in the processing of chemosignals involved in mammalian reproduction
... Therefore, researchers often avoid the term "pheromone" in favor of "chemosignal, " as no general consensus exists on what constitutes a (human) pheromone (Doty, 2010;Wyatt, 2014;Lübke and Pause, 2015). That said, scientists have identified multiple domains of human chemosensory communication, most prominently in human reproduction (Franzoi and Herzog, 1987;Sergeant et al., 2005;Havlícek et al., 2006;Mostafa et al., 2012;Lübke and Pause, 2015) as well as in harm avoidance (Mujica-Parodi et al., 2009;Zernecke et al., 2011;Lübke and Pause, 2015). Clearly, these domains are critical regarding the evolution of our species. ...
Cooperation among unrelated humans is frequently regarded as a defining feature in the evolutionary success of our species. Whereas, much research has addressed the strategic and cognitive mechanisms that underlie cooperation, investigations into chemosensory processes have received very limited research attention. To bridge that gap, we build on recent research that has identified the chemically synthesized odorant Hedione (HED) as a ligand for the putative human pheromone receptor (VN1R1) expressed in the olfactory mucosa, and hypothesize that exposure to HED may increase reciprocity. Applying behavioral economics paradigms, the present research shows that exposure to the ligand causes differentiated behavioral effects in reciprocal punishments (Study 1) as well as rewards (Study 2), two types of behaviors that are frequently regarded as essential for the development and maintenance of cooperation.
... Perfumes are described as an important factor in the social communication between human beings, where it is claimed that women and men want to increase their genderspecific associations (see e.g. Milinski & Wedekind 2001;Herz & Inzlicht 2002;Sergeant et al. 2005). The use of perfumes has earlier been described as a feminine manifestation (cf. ...
The odour perception of perfumes is claimed to be associated with gender. Although a gender-sensitive research approach is desirable when the gender variable is in focus, a deeper analysis of this association is uncommon. In this study, 18 participants (aged 20–30 years) gender categorized 12 perfumes. A gender-sensitive approach was applied to the analysis of the gender associations when sniffing perfumes, in order to examine how the participants' gender categorizations correspond to the commercial classifications of the 12 perfumes. The results demonstrate that the participants' gender associations of the perfumes constitute a scale reflecting the perfumes' odour qualities, where only the perfumes perceived as extremely feminine or masculine were categorized in the same way as the commercial classifications. It is therefore argued that the gender dichotomy of femininity and masculinity does not correspond to the perceived gender associations of perfumes in the present study.
... Perfumes are a common part of the everyday life, where both woman and man are perfumed (Sczesny and Stahlberg 2002). Perfumes have therefore been described as being important in the social interaction between humans (Milinski and Wedekind 2001;Herz and Inzlicht 2002;Sergeant et al. 2005). Individuals wearing perfumes have been judged, in earlier research, as more confident than individuals not wearing perfume (Higuchi et al. 2005), and individuals seem to be more willing to help someone on the street if that someone is wearing a pleasant perfume (Baron 1997). ...
The perception of fragrances has been a growing field of interest, where perfumes classified as either typically feminine or typically masculine primarily have been used as stimuli. The current study explored gender associations and preferences of more “unisex” perfumes found in the middle of a gender continuum of fragrances, both when the fragrances were applied on humans, and when they were presented in glass bottles. Blindfolded participants indicated if they wanted to use the fragrances themselves, if they wanted their partner to use the perfumes, scaled gender associations (femininity and masculinity) for each perfume and tried to guess the gender of the person each perfume was applied on when not presented in a bottle. Results show that the gender of the person that the perfume was applied on did not affect the participants' preference or their gender scaling. Moreover, the preference did not differ between female and male participants, indicating that the commercial gender categorization is less important to the perfume consumers.
Practical Implications
On the commercial market, most perfumes are classified as either feminine or masculine, although the odor quality of feminine and masculine odors are overlapping and constitute a continuum rather than two separate clusters of odors. Earlier research has shown that participants tend to prefer perfumes positioned in the middle of this gender continuum. The current study investigates gender associations and preferences of perfumes from the middle of the gender continuum while these are applied on humans. When blindfolded participants evaluated their perception of the perfumes in this study, it became clear that neither the gender of the humans that the perfumes were applied on, nor the commercial gender labeling of the perfumes were important to their perception. Consequently, the commercial gender categorization does not seem to be sufficient for all perfumes. Instead, the classification of perfumes could be according to other aspects, e.g., according to odor quality.
... Different kinds of fragrances are used to improve the personal body odor, and perfumes are therefore stated to be important in the social interaction between human beings (Herz and Inzlicht 2002;Milinski and Wedekind 2001;Sergeant et al. 2005), so that women and men want to increase the gender-specific associations of themselves. Individuals wearing a typical feminine perfume have consequently been described as having less typical masculine traits (Fiore 1992). ...
Perfumes are claimed to be an important factor in human social communication. Previous research on perfumes has mainly considered masculinity and femininity as two opposite poles of the same scale, while in this study, 18 naive participants scaled the femininity and masculinity of 12 perfumes as two independent attributes. They also indicated if they wanted to use the perfumes themselves (self-preference), if they wanted their partners to use the perfumes (partner preference), and the perceived pleasantness. It was found that higher scores of pleasantness were assigned to fragrances for daytime wear. Based on the olfactory description of perfumes available on the web (www.fragrantica.com), a method is proposed to predict the perceived femininity. Predicted values were strongly correlated (r = 0.87, p = 0.0002) with femininity ratings obtained from the panel. The results show that self-preference and partner preference were positively correlated with each other (r = 0.84, p < 0.001) and with the pleasantness, indicating that if the participants liked a perfume, they both wanted to use it themselves and wanted their partner to use it. Nonetheless, the observed correlation is influenced by one perfume that was perceived as unpleasant, and further studies will be required to better understand the gender associations of perfumes and their impact on self-preference and partner preference.
... While men and women both place importance on scent in potential partners, men seem to try to avoid unpleasant-smelling partners but do still rank physical attractiveness as important. Women say that " better than average " smell is the most important physical factor in mate choice (Sergeant, Davies, Dickins & Griffiths, 2005). Thus the hedonics of odor is also an important quality in a potential mate; the sexes may have different strategies in that perhaps men " avoid the worst " as opposed to women who wish to " take the best " . ...
Odor, adult attachment and emotions in romantic relationships
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.
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.
Previous works about the role of the senses in mating choices made by men and women have confirmed the existence of neurophysiologic processes which influence our decisions about whom we'd like to have a relationship with, well beyond our conscious capacity to select. Most of these works, however, are developed from a focus on Evolutionary Psychology, whose theoretical axis is the transmission of genes from one generation to another by means of reproduction. Therefore, they have centered exclusively on the evaluations of attractiveness made by heterosexual people, thus disregarding the role of the senses in the mating choices of their homosexual counterparts. Our goal in the present study was to evaluate the relationship between smell and sight, as well as their influence on the attraction felt by homosexual men towards heterosexual and homosexual men. A group of 14 homosexual men assessed the attractiveness of a series of stimuli that came from homosexual and heterosexual males. Subjects ranged from 16 to 26 years of age (M = 21.21; SD = 2.6), participated voluntarily and were selected through accidental, non probability sampling. All of them were recruited in a meeting of the Jóvenes LGBT México Group, thanks to the support of one of its coordinators, with the objective of accommodating the schedules of the population under study. The stimuli consisted of facial pictures of homosexual and heterosexual men, as well as cotton tee shirts previously worn by the same subjects. All stimuli were collected from 10 men between 21 and 25 years of age (M = 22.3; SD = 1.49), acquaintances of the researchers. Invitations were sent via e-mail. Participants were informed that the objective of the study was to assess the importance of the senses in the mating choices of human males. Findings may be summarized as follows: the olfactory attractiveness of the tee shirts and the visual attractiveness of the pictures did not correlate for either of the two groups; only the olfactory attractiveness of the tee shirts differed significantly depending on the sexual orientation of the wearers; both the visual attractiveness of the pictures and the olfactory attractiveness of the tee shirts predicted the global attractiveness of heterosexual subjects, though the visual attractiveness of the pictures did so more significantly; and, finally, only the olfactory attractiveness of the tee shirts predicted the global attractiveness of homosexual subjects. In other words, the smell of the tee shirts worn by homosexual men resulted significantly more attractive to the homosexual evaluators than did the smell of the tee shirts worn by heterosexual men. On the other hand, only the attractiveness of the smell of the tee shirts worn by homosexual men predicted significantly the global attractiveness of those men. This suggests that the homosexual men who participated as evaluators were able to distinguish, without being conscious of it, the sexual orientation of the men who wore the shirts, parting from their olfactory attractiveness. The most important implication of our findings is that homosexual people may function in a different neurophysiologic manner than their heterosexual counterparts, at least in regards to the influence of sensory perception on the mating choices they make. In particular, that factors independent from reproduction may have a role in human mating choices. Therefore, in future research conducted on the matter, the sexual orientation of the subjects should be considered, additionally to their biological sex.
Virtual environments (VE) aim to reproduce life-like experiences, but despite indications that the olfactory sense plays a significant role in everyday life, the integration of olfactory stimuli in VEs is rare. The aim of this paper is to review the literature on olfaction and its potential applications in Virtual Reality (VR). Indications supporting the integration of odorants in VR include the privileged connections between the olfactory system and the brain regions involved in the processing of virtual stimuli used in clinical applications, as well as the interaction between odors, the other senses, and various psychological processes. Presently, smells are mostly integrated in VR applications for post-traumatic stress disorder and drug addiction, but further uses of odorants in VEs could include pain distraction, various training scenarios, such as emergency response and relaxation, and investigations of multi-sensory integration.
An overview of the field of evolutionary consumption is provided. Brief summaries of disciplines within the evolutionary behavioral sciences that preceded evolutionary psychology (EP) are first offered. This is followed by a discussion of important EP principles including the domain-specificity of the human mind, and the difference between ultimate and proximate scientific explanations. The evolutionary bases of memory, attitude formation/change, emotions, perception (our five senses), personality, and decision making are addressed next, along with specific links to consumer research. Next, I demonstrate how numerous consumer acts could be classified into one of four basal Darwinian modules: survival, reproduction (mating), kin selection, and reciprocal altruism. The paper continues with an exploration of the evolutionary roots of cultural products (e.g., song lyrics) and Darwinian happiness (along with the evolutionary etiology of maladaptive phenomena such as pathological gambling and compulsive buying). I conclude with a discussion of key epistemological benefits of Darwinizing consumer research including greater consilience, increased interdisciplinarity, and an ethos of methodological pluralism.
Evolutionary psychologists have hypothesized that men and women possess both long-term and short-term mating strategies, with men's short-term strategy differentially rooted in the desire for sexual variety. In this article, findings from a cross-cultural survey of 16,288 people across 10 major world regions (including North America, South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Middle East, Africa, Oceania, South/Southeast Asia, and East Asia) demonstrate that sex differences in the desire for sexual variety are culturally universal throughout these world regions. Sex differences were evident regardless of whether mean, median, distributional, or categorical indexes of sexual differentiation were evaluated. Sex differences were evident regardless of the measures used to evaluate them. Among contemporary theories of human mating, pluralistic approaches that hypothesize sex differences in the evolved design of short-term mating provide the most compelling account of these robust empirical findings.
Evolutionary psychologists have hypothesized that men and women possess both long-term and short-term mating strategies, with men's short-term strategy differentially rooted in the desire for sexual variety. In this article, findings from a cross-cultural survey of 16,288 people across 10 major world regions (including North America, South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Middle East, Africa, Oceania, South/Southeast Asia, and East Asia) demonstrate that sex differences in the desire for sexual variety are culturally universal throughout these world regions. Sex differences were evident regardless of whether mean, median, distributional, or categorical indexes of sexual differentiation were evaluated. Sex differences were evident regardless of the measures used to evaluate them. Among contemporary theories of human mating, pluralistic approaches that hypothesize sex differences in the evolved design of short-term mating provide the most compelling account of these robust empirical findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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 human organs of perception are constantly bombarded with chemicals from the environment. Our bodies have in turn developed complex processing systems, which manifest themselves in our emotions, memory, and language. Yet the available data on the high order cognitive implications of taste and smell are scattered among journals in many fields, with no single source synthesizing the large body of knowledge, much of which has appeared in the last decade. This book presents the first multidisciplinary synthesis of the literature in olfactory and gustatory cognition. Leading experts have written chapters on many facets of taste and smell, including odor memory, cortical representations, psychophysics and functional imaging studies, genetic variation in taste, and the hedonistic dimensions of odors. The approach is integrative, combining perspectives from neuroscience, psychology, anthropology, philosophy, and linguistics, and is appropriate for students and researchers in all of these areas who seek an authoritative reference on olfaction, taste, and cognition.
What does a woman want? The traditional evolutionist's answer to Freud's famous query is that a woman's extensive investment in each child implies that she can maximize her fitness by restricting her sexual activity to one or at most a few high-quality males. Because acquiring resources for her ospring is of paramount importance, a woman will try to attract wealthy, high-status men who are willing and able to help her. She must be coy and choosy, limiting her attentions to men worthy of her and emphasizing her chastity so as not to threaten the paternity confidence of her mate. The lady has been getting more complicated of late, however. As Sarah Hrdy 1 predicted, we now have evidence that women, like other female pri- mates, are also competitive, randy creatures. Women have been seen com- peting with their rivals using both physical aggression 2,3 and more subtle derogation of competitors. 4 While they are still sometimes coy and chaste, women have also been described recently as sexy and sometimes promis- cuous creatures, manipulating fatherhood by the timing of orgasm 5,6 and using their sexuality to garner resources from men. The real answer to Freud's query, of course, is that a woman wants it all: a man with the resources and inclination to invest, and with genes that make him attractive to other women so that her sons will inherit his success. Her strategies for attaining these somewhat conflicting aims, and her success in doing so, are shaped by her own resources and options and by conflicts of interest with men and other women. I begin this review by considering women's mating preferences unconstrained by resource limita- tion or conflicts of interest. The literature has only recently begun to tackle the more interesting problem of how women get what they want in spite of other women who want the same thing and men whose preferences dier from theirs. Most of this paper is concerned with the trade-os engendered
What does a woman want? The traditional evolutionist's answer to Freud's famous query is that a woman's extensive investment in each of her children implies that she can maximize her fitness by restricting her sexual activity to one, or at most, a few high-quality males. Because acquiring resources for her offspring is of paramount importance, a woman will try to attract wealthy, high-status men who are willing and able to help her. She must be coy and choosy, limiting her attentions to men who are worthy of her and emphasizing her chastity so as not to threaten the paternity confidence of her mate.The lady has been getting more complicated of late, however. As Sarah Hrdy1 predicted, we now have evidence that women, like other female primates, are also competitive, randy creatures. Women have been seen competing with their rivals using both physical aggression2,3 and more subtle derogation of competitors.4 While they are still sometimes coy and chaste, women have also been described recently as sexy and sometimes promiscuous creatures, manipulating fatherhood by the timing of orgasm5,6 and using their sexuality to garner resources from men.The real answer to Freud's query, of course, is that a woman wants it all; a man with the resources and inclination to invest, and with genes that make him attractive to other women so that her sons will inherit his success. Her strategies for attaining these somewhat conflicting aims, and her success in doing so, are shaped by her own resources and options and by conflicts of interest with men and other women.
Contemporary mate preferences can provide important clues to human reproductive history. Little is known about which characteristics people value in potential mates. Five predictions were made about sex differences in human mate preferences based on evolutionary conceptions of parental investment, sexual selection, human reproductive capacity, and sexual asymmetries regarding certainty of paternity versus maternity. The predictions centered on how each sex valued earning capacity, ambition— industriousness, youth, physical attractiveness, and chastity. Predictions were tested in data from 37 samples drawn from 33 countries located on six continents and five islands (total N = 10,047). For 27 countries, demographic data on actual age at marriage provided a validity check on questionnaire data. Females were found to value cues to resource acquisition in potential mates more highly than males. Characteristics signaling reproductive capacity were valued more by males than by females. These sex differences may reflect different evolutionary selection pressures on human males and females; they provide powerful cross-cultural evidence of current sex differences in reproductive strategies. Discussion focuses on proximate mechanisms underlying mate preferences, consequences for human intrasexual competition, and the limitations of this study.
It has been argued that behavior on the Internet differs from similar behavior in the “real world” (Joinson, 1998a). In the
present study, participants completed measures of self-consciousness, social anxiety, self-esteem, and social desirability,
using either the World-Wide Web (WWW) or pen and paper, and were assigned to either an anonymous or a nonanonymous condition.
It was found that people reported lower social anxiety and social desirability and higher self-esteem when they were anonymous
than when they were nonanonymous. Furthermore, participants also reported lower social anxiety and social desirability when
they were using the Internet than when they were using paper-based methods. Contrast analyses supported the prediction that
participants using the WWW anonymously would show the lowest levels of social desirability, whereas participants answering
with pen and paper nonanonymously would score highest on the same measure. Implications for the use of the Internet for the
collection of psychological data are discussed.
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.
House mice prefer mates genetically dissimilar at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). The highly polymorphic MHC genes control immunological self/nonself recognition; therefore, this mating preference may function to provide "good genes" for an individual's offspring. However, the evidence for MHC-dependent mating preferences is controversial, and its function remains unclear. Here we provide a critical review of the studies on MHCdependent mating preferences in mice, sheep, and humans and the possible functions of this behavior. There are three adaptive hypotheses for MHC-dependent mating preferences. First, MHCdisassortative mating preferences produce MHC-heterozygous offspring that may have enhanced immunocompetence. Although this hypothesis is not supported by tests of single parasites, MHC heterozygotes may be resistant to multiple parasites. Journal Article
The multiple motive hypothesis of physical attractiveness suggests that women are attracted to men whose appearances elicit their nurturant feelings, who appear to possess sexual maturity and dominance characteristics, who seem sociable, approacheable, and of high social status. Those multiple motives may cause people to be attracted to individuals who display an optimal combination of neotenous, mature, and expressive facial features, plus desirable grooming attributes. Three quasi-experiments demonstrated that men who possessed the neotenous features of large eyes, the mature features of prominent cheekbones and a large chin, the expressive feature of a big smile, and high-status clothing were seen as more attractive than other men. Further supporting the multiple motive hypothesis, the 2nd and 3rd studies indicated that impressions of attractiveness had strong relations with selections of men to date and to marry but had a curvilinear relation with perceptions of a baby face vs. a mature face.
Social psychologists have devoted considerable theoretical and empirical attention to studying gender differences in traits desired in a mate. Most of the studies on mate preferences, however, have been conducted with small, nonrepresentative samples. In this study, we analyzed data collected from single adults in a national probability sample, the National Survey of Families and Households. Respondents were asked to consider 12 possible assets or liabilities in a marriage partner and to indicate their willingness to marry someone possessing each of these traits. These data extended previous research by comparing men's and women's mate preferences in a heterogeneous sample of the national population and by comparing gender differences in different sociodemographic groups. The gender differences found in this study were consistent with those secured in previous research (e.g., youth and physical attractiveness were found to be more important for men than for women; earning potential was found to be less important for men than for women) and were quite consistent across age groups and races. However, the various sociodemographic groups differed slightly in the magnitude of gender differences for some of the mate preferences.
This paper, presented in part as an invited lecture on the occasion of Professor E.P. Köster's retirement from Utrecht University, summarizes a large body of human studies performed at the University of Pennsylvania Smell and Taste Center during the last 17 years. Details of the development of standardized olfactory tests are provided, including their validation and application in a wide variety of clinical and laboratory settings. Included are studies related to transduction mechanisms in olfactory coding and factors that adversely influence olfactory function (e.g. age, gender, smoking, exposure to environmental chemicals, numerous diseases). A brief discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the olfactory vector hypothesis for neurodegenerative diseases is also presented.
This study tested whether synthesized human male pheromones increase the sociosexual behavior of men. Thirty-eight heterosexual men, ages 26-42, completed a 2-week baseline period and 6-week placebo-controlled, double-blind trial testing a pheromone "designed to improve the romance in their lives." Each subject kept daily behavioral records for 6 sociosexual behaviors: petting/affection/kissing, formal dates, informal dates, sleeping next to a romantic partner, sexual intercourse, and self-stimulation to ejaculation (masturbation) and FAXed them each week. Significantly more pheromone than placebo users increased above baseline in sexual intercourse and sleeping with a romantic partner. There was a tendency for more pheromone than placebo users to increase above baseline in petting/affection/kissing, and informal dates, but not in self-stimulation to ejaculation or in formal dates. A significantly larger proportion of pheromone than placebo users increased in > or = 2 and > or = 3 of the 5 sociosexual behaviors involving a female partner. Thus, there was a significant increase in male sociosexual behaviors in which a woman's sexual interest and cooperation plays a role but not in male masturbation which involves only the man. These initial data need replication but suggest that human male pheromones affected the sexual attractiveness of men to women.
Several studies have found body and facial symmetry as well as attractiveness to be human mate choice criteria. These characteristics are presumed to signal developmental stability. Human body odour has been shown to influence female mate choice depending on the immune system, but the question of whether smell could signal general mate quality, as do other cues, was not addressed in previous studies. We compared ratings of body odour, attractiveness, and measurements of facial and body asymmetry of 16 male and 19 female subjects. Subjects wore a T-shirt for three consecutive nights under controlled conditions. Opposite-sex raters judged the odour of the T-shirts and another group evaluated portraits of the subjects for attractiveness. We measured seven bilateral traits of the subject's body to assess body asymmetry. Facial asymmetry was examined by distance measurements of portrait photographs. The results showed a significant positive correlation between facial attractiveness and sexiness of body odour for female subjects. We found positive relationships between body odour and attractiveness and negative ones between smell and body asymmetry for males only if female odour raters were in the most fertile phase of their menstrual cycle. The outcomes are discussed in the light of different male and female reproductive strategies.
We are entering one of the most exciting periods in the study of chemical communication since the first pheromones were identified some 40 years ago. This rapid progress is reflected in this book, the first to cover the whole animal kingdom at this level for 25 years. The importance of chemical communication is illustrated with examples from a diverse range of animals including humans, marine copepods, Drosophila, Caenorhabditis elegans, moths, snakes, goldfish, elephants and mice. It is designed to be advanced, but at the same time accessible to readers whatever their scientific background. For students of ecology, evolution and behaviour, this book gives an introduction to the rapid progress in our understanding of olfaction at the molecular and neurological level. In addition, it offers chemists, molecular and neurobiologists an insight into the ecological, evolutionary and behavioural context of olfactory communication.
Evidence from studies in rodents suggests that mate selection is influenced by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) haplotypes, with preferences for dissimilar partners. We initiated studies to determine whether avoidance of a mate with the same HLA haplotype as one’s own might be occurring in the Hutterites, a reproductive isolate of European origins. Previously, we reported a statistically significant deficiency of couples matching for 1 or more haplotypes among 411 couples with known HLA haplotypes defined by serology (Ober, Weitkamp, Cox, Dytch, Kostyu, & Elias, 1997). In this report, matching for 5-lo-cus, 11-locus and 16-locus HLA haplotypes defined by serological, molecular, and biochemical methods, we considered the same 411 couples. Using the same two methods for estimating the number of couples expected to match for a haplotype as we did in our earlier report, fewer couples than expected matched for a haplotype (first method, using population genotype frequencies, P = 0.0023-0.0035; second method, using computer simulations, P = 0.001-0.049). These results are consistent with the conclusion that Hutterite mate choice is influenced by HLA haplotypes, with an avoidance of spouses with haplotypes that are the same as one’s own.
Psychological evidence suggests that sex differences in morphology have been modified by sexual selection so as to attract mates (intersexual selection) or intimidate rivals (intrasexual selection). Women compete with each other for high quality husbands by advertising reproductive value in terms of the distribution of fat reserves and by exaggerating morphological indicators of youthfulness such as a small nose and small feet and pale, hairless skin. Men's physical appearance tends to communicate social dominance, which has the combined effects of intimidating reproductive rivals and attracting mates. In addition to their attractiveness and intimidatory effects, human secondary sexual characters also provide cues to hormonal status and phenotypic quality consistent with the good genes model of sexual selection (which includes parasite resistance). Low waist-hip ratio is sexually attractive in women and indicates a high estrogen/testosterone ratio (which favors reproductive function). Facial attractiveness provides honest cues to health and mate value. The permanently enlarged female breast appears to have evolved under the influence of both the good genes and the runaway selection mechanisms. The male beard is not obviously related to phenotypic quality and may have evolved through a process of runaway intersexual selection.
Olfactory cues play a prominent, yet underestimated role in shaping emotional attitudes towards conspecifics. Among humans olfactory cues can have effects on behavior. In a rating study (n = 290) females rated the smell of androstenone. The emotional reaction to androstenone changed during the menstrual cycle. Females rated the main component of male body odor unattractive. This changed to a neutral emotional response at the conceptive optimum around ovulation. The finding has direct consequences for hypotheses concerning the evolutionary loss of estrus. It is suggested that the cyclic-dependent emotional rating of androstenone may facilitate active female choice of sex partners and may be a proximate cue for female mate-choice.
Symmetry may act as a marker of phenotypic and genetic quality and is preferred during mate selection in a variety of species. Measures of human body symmetry correlate with attractiveness, but studies manipulating human face images report a preference for asymmetry. These results may reflect unnatural feature shapes and changes in skin textures introduced by image processing. When the shape of facial features is varied (with skin textures held constant), increasing symmetry of face shape increases ratings of attractiveness for both male and female faces. These findings imply facial symmetry may have a positive impact on mate selection in humans.
In the first century after the "Origin of Species," virtually no one tested Darwin's theory against the evidence of human history. In the last decade, that tide has changed; this book is caught up in it. It tests the proposition that the evolved end of human life is its reproduction, against the literature on conflict resolution from over a hundred societies across space and time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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.
Individuals in some species prefer mates carrying dissimilar genes at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which may function to increase the MHC or overall heterozygosity of progeny. Here I review the evidence for MHC-dependent mating preferences from recent studies, including studies on the underlying olfactory mechanisms and evolutionary functions. Many studies indicate that MHC genes influence odour, and some work is beginning to examine the potential role of MHC-linked olfactory receptor genes in mating preferences. MHC-dependent mating preference increases the MHC-heterozygosity of progeny, which is suspected to confer resistance to infectious diseases. In humans, heterozygosity at MHC loci is associated with increased resistance to hepatitis and HIV infections, but experimental evidence for the heterozygote advantage hypothesis has been lacking. Here I re-analyse data from previously published experimental infection studies with mice. I show that although overdominance is rare, resistance is often dominant, suggesting that heterozygotes are often protected. A second (nonmutually exclusive) possibility is that MHC-disassortative mating preferences promotes inbreeding avoidance. This hypothesis is supported by recent evidence that MHC genes play a role in kin recognition, and that mating with close kin has rather deleterious fitness consequences. In conclusion, I discuss other ways that MHC genes might influence sexual selection. The research on MHC-mediated mating preferences is integrating the study of animal behaviour with other seemingly disparate fields, including sensory biology and immunogenetics.
In recent years researchers from diverse disciplines in the life sciences have turned their attention to the issue of developmental stability in the organism. Their key measure, fluctuating asymmetry (FA), is defined as the random, stress-induced deviations from perfect symmetry that develop during the development of bilaterally symmetrical traits. This is regarded as a promising measure of the stress experienced by individuals during their development, as well as the interaction between genetic and environmental forces which affect that development. FA also sheds light on several domains within psychological research, such as the interplay between nature and nurture during human development, etiology of mental health, mating and choice of partners, and even perception of facial beauty. This study reviews the manifestation and sources of FA in humans, and seeks to provide some insight regarding their relevance and possible application to various domains in psychology.
Human axillary odor was used in testing the ability of male and female subjects to distinguish between gender and individuals. The subjects also gave a qualitative evaluation of the odors. The tests were carried out in Japan, Italy, and Germany. Of all three cultures, 80% of the participants could significantly distinguish among the odor of individuals; 50% could identify the person correctly to whom the recognized odor belonged. Discrimination between male and female odor was significantly shown by 20% of Italian, 30% of German, and 60% of Japanese subjects. The qualitative evaluation of male and female odor was the same in the three cultures: male odor was classified more unpleasant and less pleasant than female odor. Men classified their own odor more unpleasant than women did with their own. A cultural difference was found concerning partner''s odor: though men classified it alike (predominantly pleasant), women differed. Japanese and Italian women classified their partner''s odor predominantly unpleasant, German women predominantly pleasant. In general the Japanese subjects classified the odors less often pleasant than the Italian and German subjects did.
Males of many animals have more than a single exaggerated secondary sexual character, but inter-specific variability in the number of ornaments has never been explained. We examine three hypotheses that may account for the presence of multiple ornaments. First, the multiple message hypothesis proposes that each display reflects a single property of the overall quality of an animal. This is likely to be the case for ornaments that respond to condition on different time scales. Second, the redundant signal hypothesis suggests that each ornament gives a partial indication of condition. Females pay attention to several sex traits because in combination they provide a better estimate of general condition than does any single ornament. The redundant signal hypothesis predicts that (i) multiple ornaments should be particularly common among taxa with relatively uncostly and fine-tuned female choice, and (ii) females pay equal attention to the expression of all the secondary sex traits in order to obtain an estimate of overall male condition. Finally, the unreliable signal hypothesis argues that some ornaments are unreliable indicators of overall condition and are only maintained because they are relatively uncostly to produce and there is a weak female preference for them. This predicts that (i) multiple sexual ornaments should be particularly common in taxa with the most intense sexual selection (i.e. lekking and other polygynous taxa), and (ii) there should be more evidence for condition dependence in ornaments of species with single as opposed to multiple ornaments. Both the latter predictions are supported by data on feather ornaments in birds.
Efforts to collect evidence of human pheromones have focused on three partly overlapping classes of possible human pheromones: (1) axillary steroids, (2) vaginal aliphatic acids, and (3) stimulators of the vomeronasal organ. Examples of each of these classes have been patented for commercial use, and in some cases aggressively marketed, but there is only incomplete evidence supporting any particular claim that a substance acts as a human pheromone. The large axillary scent glands found in humans appear to be well adapted for the production of pheromones, but may actually be used for non-pheromonal odor communication, such as the sharing of information about the immune system. Putative menstrual synchronization within social groups of women and putative acceleration of the menstrual cycle caused by men's odors may suggest the existence of human pheromone systems, but evidence in both cases is still inconclusive.
Human, Homo sapiens, female orgasm is not necessary for conception; hence it seems reasonable to hypothesize that orgasm is an adaptation for manipulating the outcome of sperm competition resulting from facultative polyandry. If heritable differences in male viability existed in the evolutionary past, selection could have favoured female adaptations (e.g. orgasm) that biased sperm competition in favour of males possessing heritable fitness indicators. Accumulating evidence suggests that low fluctuating asymmetry is a sexually selected male feature in a variety of species, including humans, possibly because it is a marker of genetic quality. Based on these notions, the proportion of a woman's copulations associated with orgasm is predicted to be associated with her partner's fluctuating asymmetry. A questionnaire study of 86 sexually active heterosexual couples supported this prediction. Women with partners possessing low fluctuating asymmetry and their partners reported significantly more copulatory female orgasms that were reported by women with partners possessing high fluctuating asymmetry and their partners, even with many potential confounding variables controlled. The findings are used to examine hypotheses for female orgasm other than selective sperm retention.
Callitrichids (marmosets and tamarins) are unusual among primates in having a particularly flexible mating system that spans monogamy, polyandry and polygamy, associated eith twin births and male parental care. The conventional assumption has been that monogamy evolved in order to allow the female to bear a litter of two relatively expensive young. An ESS approach is used to examine the costs and benefits of monogamy versus polygamy for the male and a litter size of one versus two offspring for the female in order to evaluate the conditions for the evolution of pair-bonded monogamy plus twinning. The results suggest that twinning could not have evolved before pair bonding in these species and that, all things being equal, it would always pay males to pursue a roving-male polygamy strategy. In response to this, females pursue a number of strategies that appear to be designed to coerce the male into remaining monogamous.
Offering a concise, comprehensive guide to conducting research on the Internet, this book provides a detailed explanation of all the main areas of Internet research. It distinguishes between primary research (using the Internet to recruit participants, to administer the research process and to collect results) and secondary research (using the Internet to access available material online). The book is designed for social science researchers and presents a user-friendly, practical guide that will be invaluable to both students and researchers who wish to incorporate the Internet into their research practice.
Men and women estimated (by the method of magnitude estimation) the pleasantness and intensity of the odors of vaginal secretions sampled from consecutive phases of 15 ovulatory menstrual cycles of four women. On the average, secretions from preovulatory and ovulatory phases were slightly weaker and less unpleasant in odor than those from menstrual, early luteal, and late luteal phases. However, considerable variation in odor patterns was present across cycles from the same donor, as well as across cycles from different donors. These results indicate that human vaginal odors change slightly in both pleasantness and intensity during the menstrual cycle, but do not support the notion that such odors are particularly attractive to humans in an in vitro test situation.
The aim of the study was to find correlations between changes in olfactory sensitivity and the menstrual cycle. 14 young, healthy volunteers participated in the experiments. Subjects menstruated regularly and did not use oral contraceptives. Three odorants were investigated: phenylethyl alcohol, androstenone, and nicotine. Dilution series of the odorants were prepared, and presented to the subjects in order to determine the detection thresholds (triple forced choice). Additionally, the subjects' hedonic estimates of the odorants were measured, and mood states as well as hormonal levels of LH and estrogen were determined. Before the actual experiments started, subjects participated in three training sessions.
One experiment was subdivided into 5 phases (two pre- and two postovulatory phases; one ovulatory phase). Only with regard to androstenone did trend analyses reveal a significant quadratic relationship between hedonic estimates and phases of the menstrual cycle, peaking at ovulation. Olfactory sensitivity was not significantly influenced by the menstrual cycle.
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).
Like a number of plants, some mammals commonly produce more progeny than they can afford to rear, terminating investment in some or even all of their offspring once the resources available for breeding are known. Adaptive interpretations of juvenile wastage rely on the argument that the costs of gestation are small compared to those of feeding offspring. Though energetic evidence supports this conclusion, it is unsafe to assume that the relative costs of gestation and lactation to the mother's survival and future reproductive success follow the same pattern because lactation commonly coincides with the period of maximum food availability. Controlling for individual variation, we show that in wild red deer (Cervus elaphus L) any costs of gestation to the mother's subsequent survival and reproductive success are slight compared to those of lactation.
To ascertain the generality of a sex difference noted in odor identification ability, the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) was administered to four groups of subjects: Black Americans (n = 438), White Americans (n = 1559), Korean Americans (n = 106), and Native Japanese (n = 308). The women of all four groups outperformed the men to the same relative degree. The Korean American group performed better than the Black and White American groups, which, in turn, outperformed the Native Japanese. Analyses of the proportions of subjects correctly answering each of the test items revealed considerable similarity of relative item difficulty among the subject groups. Taken together, these data suggest that sex differences in odor identification ability are probably not due to ethnic or cultural factors, per se.
Fluctuating asymmetry (FA), used as a measure of phenotypic quality, has proven to be a useful predictor of human life-history variation, but nothing is known about its effects in humans living in higher fecundity and mortality conditions, typical before industrialization and the demographic transition. In this research, I analyse data on male life histories for a relatively isolated population in rural Belize. Some of the 56 subjects practise subsistence-level slash-and-burn farming, and others are involved in the cash economy. Fecundity levels are quite high in this population, with men over the age of 40 averaging over eight children. Low FA successfully predicted lower morbidity and more offspring fathered, and was marginally associated with a lower age at first reproduction and more lifetime sex partners. These results indicate that FA may be important in predicting human performance in fecundity and morbidity in predemographic transition conditions.
It has been argued that behavior on the Internet differs from similar behavior in the "real world" (Joinson, 1998a). In the present study, participants completed measures of self-consciousness, social anxiety, self-esteem, and social desirability, using either the World-Wide Web (WWW) or pen and paper, and were assigned to either an anonymous or a nonanonymous condition. It was found that people reported lower social anxiety and social desirability and higher self-esteem when they were anonymous than when they were nonanonymous. Furthermore, participants also reported lower social anxiety and social desirability when they were using the Internet than when they were using paper-based methods. Contrast analyses supported the prediction that participants using the WWW anonymously would show the lowest levels of social desirability, whereas participants answering with pen and paper nonanonymously would score highest on the same measure. Implications for the use of the Internet for the collection of psychological data are discussed.