The scent of attractiveness: levels of reproductive hormones explain individual differences in women's body odour

Lobmaier, Janek; Fischbacher, Urs; Wirthmüller, Urs; Knoch, Daria (2018). The scent of attractiveness: levels of reproductive hormones explain individual differences in women's body odour. Proceedings of the Royal Society. Series B - biological sciences, 285(1886), pp. 1-7. Royal Society of London 10.1098/rspb.2018.1520

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Individuals are thought to have their own distinctive body odour which reportedly plays an important role in mate choice. In the present study we investigated individual differences in body odours of women and examined whether some women generally smell more attractive than others or whether odour preferences are a matter of individual taste. We then explored whether levels of reproductive hormones explain women's body odour attractiveness, to test the idea that body odour attractiveness may act as a chemosensory marker of reproductive fitness. Fifty-seven men rated body odours of 28 healthy, naturally cycling women of reproductive age. We collected all odours at peak fertility to control for menstrual cycle effects on body odour attractiveness. Women's salivary oestradiol, progesterone, testosterone and cortisol levels were assessed at the time of odour collection to test whether hormone levels explain body odour attractiveness. We found that the men highly agreed on how attractive they found women's body odours. Interestingly, women's body odour attractiveness was predicted by their oestradiol and progesterone levels: the higher a woman's levels of oestradiol and the lower her levels of progesterone, the more attractive her body odour was rated. In showing that women's body odour attractiveness is explained by levels of female reproductive hormones, but not by levels of cortisol or testosterone, we provide evidence that body odour acts as a valid cue to potential fertility.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

07 Faculty of Human Sciences > Institute of Psychology > Social Neuroscience and Social Psychology
04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Haematology, Oncology, Infectious Diseases, Laboratory Medicine and Hospital Pharmacy (DOLS) > Institute of Clinical Chemistry

UniBE Contributor:

Lobmaier, Janek Simon, Wirthmüller, Urs, Knoch, Daria

Subjects:

300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology
600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health
100 Philosophy > 150 Psychology

ISSN:

0962-8452

Publisher:

Royal Society of London

Language:

English

Submitter:

Janek Simon Lobmaier

Date Deposited:

14 Sep 2018 16:01

Last Modified:

02 Mar 2023 23:31

Publisher DOI:

10.1098/rspb.2018.1520

PubMed ID:

30209229

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.119935

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/119935

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