Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Horm Behav. 2012 Feb;61(2):157-66. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2011.11.005. Epub 2011 Nov 23.
Scent communication plays a central role in the mating behavior of many nonhuman mammals but has often been overlooked in the study of human mating. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that men may perceive women's high-fertility body scents (collected near ovulation) as more attractive than their low-fertility body scents. The present study provides a methodologically rigorous replication of this finding, while also examining several novel questions. Women collected samples of their natural body scent twice--once on a low-fertility day and once on a high-fertility day of the ovulatory cycle. Tests of luteinizing hormone confirmed that women experienced ovulation within two days of their high-fertility session. Men smelled each woman's high- and low-fertility scent samples and completed discrimination and preference tasks. At above-chance levels, men accurately discriminated between women's high- and low-fertility scent samples (61%) and chose women's high-fertility scent samples as more attractive than their low-fertility scent samples (56%). Men also rated each scent sample on sexiness, pleasantness, and intensity, and estimated the physical attractiveness of the woman who had provided the sample. Multilevel modeling revealed that, when high- and low-fertility scent samples were easier to discriminate from each other, high-fertility scent samples received even more favorable ratings compared with low-fertility scent samples. This study builds on a growing body of evidence indicating that men are attracted to cues of impending ovulation in women and raises the intriguing question of whether women's cycling hormones influence men's attraction and sexual approach behavior.
气味交流在许多非人类哺乳动物的交配行为中起着核心作用，但在人类交配的研究中却经常被忽视。然而，越来越多的证据表明，男性可能会认为女性在高生育力时（接近排卵期时）散发的体香比低生育力时更有吸引力。本研究对这一发现进行了严格的复制，同时也考察了几个新的问题。女性两次采集其自然体香样本——一次在低生育力日，一次在排卵周期的高生育力日。黄体生成素测试证实，女性在高生育力日的两天内排卵。男性嗅闻每位女性的高生育力和低生育力样本，并完成了辨别和偏好任务。在高于偶然水平的情况下，男性准确地辨别出了女性高生育力和低生育力样本（61%），并选择了女性高生育力样本作为比低生育力样本更有吸引力（56%）。男性还对每个样本的性感度、舒适度和强度进行了评分，并估计了提供样本的女性的身体吸引力。多层次模型显示，当高生育力和低生育力样本之间更容易区分时，高生育力样本比低生育力样本获得了更有利的评价。这项研究建立在越来越多的证据基础上，表明男性被女性即将排卵的线索所吸引，并提出了一个有趣的问题，即女性的循环激素是否会影响男性的吸引力和性接近行为。
