Smell plays an important yet underappreciated role in human attraction. Studies have shown that we subconsciously use smell to assess someone’s health, genetic compatibility, and reproductive fitness. In fact, research suggests that scent may be just as influential as visual or auditory cues when it comes to initial attraction.
How does smell impact attraction?
There are a few key ways that someone’s natural scent can make you feel attracted to them:
- Pheromones – Humans secrete chemical compounds called pheromones that can subtly influence the behavior and mood of others. Several studies have found that when women smell a potential male partner’s natural pheromones, they rate them as sexier and more attractive.
- Genetic compatibility – Our noses appear capable of sniffing out people who have complementary immune systems and would provide healthier offspring. The more dissimilar someone’s natural scent, the more attractive we tend to rate them.
- Fertility cues – A woman’s scent changes throughout her menstrual cycle due to hormonal fluctuations. Men seem particularly sensitive to these shifting smells, finding a woman’s scent most attractive when she is ovulating and most fertile.
Essentially, over evolutionary time, attraction to certain scents that signal reproductive fitness became wired into our brains. Today, this manifests as feeling magnetically drawn to the natural smell of those with optimal genetics and fertility.
What chemical compounds create someone’s scent?
While smell remains a complex and mysterious sense, scientists have identified some key molecules responsible for the distinctive odors of individuals:
- Androstenes – These pheromones are secreted in sweat and urine by both men and women. They convey information about mood, sexual attraction, and health.
- Androsterone – A pheromone produced in higher amounts by masculine individuals. It may signal dominance and competitiveness.
- Copulins – Women produce these pheromones that stimulate sexual attraction in men. Copulin levels peak just before ovulation.
- Estrogen and progesterone – Fluctuations in these hormones during a woman’s cycle alter her natural scent in ways men can detect.
- Fatty acids – Generated by skin gland secretions, these lipids give each person a distinctive scent.
Genetics, health status, diet, and grooming habits all influence the precise blend of chemicals creating someone’s body odor profile. We pick up on this complex signature using the 5 million olfactory receptors in our noses.
Do pheromones play a role?
Pheromones – chemicals that convey information between members of the same species – certainly influence smell-based attraction in the animal kingdom. But do human pheromones exist?
While the scientific evidence is mixed, some studies suggest humans do produce pheromones that subtly impact our behavior:
- Androstenol pheromones in male sweat may make men seem more approachable and friendly to women.
- Copulins secreted in vaginal mucus may make a woman seem more attractive to potential male partners.
- Female tears lower testosterone and sexual arousal in men, signaling sadness or distress.
- Lactating women give off scents from the areola that guide their newborn to suckle.
However, the human vomeronasal organ (VNO) – the anatomical structure that detects pheromones in many mammals – appears vestigial and inactive. Most scientists argue that any pheromonal effects in humans must be mediated through our main olfactory system, rather than a specialized VNO.
What role does the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) play?
The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is a group of genes crucial to the proper functioning of the immune system. Each person’s MHC genes are inherited from their parents and code for MHC proteins that present antigens to T-cells.
Remarkably,studies indicate that women prefer the scent of men whose MHC genes differ from their own. With dissimilar MHCs, a couple is likely to have a baby with a more robust immune system that can resist a wider array of pathogens. Smelling MHC compatibility may be how women subconsciously assess genetic quality in a potential mate.
Can someone smell “right” to you?
The concept of smeling “right” relates to how our noses apparently guide us to partners with complementary immune genes. But it may involve more than just MHC compatibility:
- Selecting for specific body odor compounds linked to overall health and reproductive fitness.
- Avoiding scents associated with genetic disorders that could harm offspring.
- Assessing diet through odor – those who smell like they eat more fruits and vegetables are rated as more attractive.
- Detecting scents correlated with specific personality traits.
Additionally, we tend to prefer the natural smells of those similar to us in terms of age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. This may help explain why couples frequently tend to match on social and cultural grounds.
How much does smell influence partner choice overall?
Smell certainly plays some role in attraction and mate selection. But how much relative to other factors?
While scent contributes, most experts argue it is not the primary driver of human mating choices. Visual cues, speech patterns, cultural background, and personality traits also critically shape who we find attractive as relationship partners.
However, smell may be most influential in the following scenarios:
- During the initial stages of attraction when first meeting someone
- In short-term and primarily sexual relationships
- When other cues like personality are ambiguous
- In shaping attraction patterns over an evolutionary timescale
So while smell is unlikely to make or break a modern relationship, it would be misguided to underestimate its subtle power – especially during that magical moment when potential partners first meet.
Why do people smell differently?
Many factors account for variations in personal odor, including:
- Genetics – MHC genes significantly influence body odor.
- Age and gender – Androgen steroid levels alter scent.
- Diet – Garlic, spices, etc. are excreted through skin.
- Medications – Antibiotics and hormonal treatments affect scent.
- Illness – Sickness and disease produce characteristic odors.
- Hygiene – How frequently/thoroughly someone bathes and grooms.
- Cosmetics – Perfumes, lotions, soaps.
- Environment – Exposure to smog, smoke, and pollutants.
Because odor depends on compounds secreted by various glands and surface microbes colonizing the skin, everyone ends up with a personalized “scent print” based on their specific biochemistry and habits.
Can you train yourself to like someone’s smell?
Since scent plays an unconscious role in attraction, it may be difficult to consciously alter your olfactory preferences. However, some strategies may help you adapt to a partner’s natural odor over time:
- Become gradually exposed to their smell during intimacy to build familiarity.
- Focus on their other attributes to make smell less of a focus.
- Suggest changes like diet that could alter their scent.
- Use scented lotions, candles, or perfumes to add pleasant aromas.
- Don’t judge smells as “bad” but merely as unfamiliar.
Building up a positive association through intimacy and bonding can sometimes overcome an initial neutral or negative reaction to smell. But if their natural odor remains off-putting, don’t ignore the warning signs your nose may be giving you.
What diseases can alter body odor?
Many diseases produce characteristic odors that can clue doctors into a diagnosis. Some examples include:
| Disease | Distinctive Smell |
|---|---|
| Diabetes | Fruity, acetone-like scent |
| Liver disease | Musty, ammonia-like smell |
| Kidney disease | Fishy or ammonia odor |
| Typhoid fever | Baked bread smell |
As these examples illustrate, changes to body odor can provide important diagnostic clues about illnesses. Doctors may therefore literally sniff out diseases based on a patient’s smell during examinations.
How do mammals use smell in courtship?
Scent plays a pivotal role in the courtship rituals of many mammals. Some examples include:
- Dogs – Male dogs sniff female dog’s genitals and anal region to determine fertility status.
- Cats – Felines have scent glands on cheeks used to rub and mark territory to attract mates.
- Elephants – Give off powerful pheromones from temporal glands that signal sexual readiness.
- Bears – Males track fertility in females by smelling their urine and feces.
- Rodents – Rely heavily on odor cues for mating behaviors like lordosis in female rats.
For most mammals, the noses of males have evolved extreme sensitivity to female pheromones indicating ovulation timing and optimal fertility. This allows them to readily sniff out receptive mates.
What evolutionary benefits does smell-based attraction have?
Evolutionarily, the ability to sniff out genetically optimal mates offered several reproductive advantages:
- Avoidance of partners with low fitness and harmful mutations.
- Vetting mates for disease resistance via MHC detection.
- Identifying mates with resources via scent markers.
- Assessing underlying health and fertility through odor.
Individuals who were best able to detect mate suitability through smell likely had more surviving offspring. This passed genes for scent-based attraction on to future generations.
Conclusion
Science makes a compelling case that human attraction relies heavily on signals conveyed through body odor. Our noses inform mate choice in ways we’re just beginning to unravel.
So trust your senses – if someone smells “right”, your evolutionary intuition may be guiding you towards an optimal partner. Just don’t forget the rest of the person underneath the scent!
