Department of Social Psychology and Social Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Department of Economics, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
Proc Biol Sci. 2018 Sep 12;285(1886):20181520. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2018.1520.
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.
人们认为每个人都有独特的体味，据报道，这种体味在伴侣选择中起着重要作用。在本研究中，我们调查了女性体臭的个体差异，并检验了是否有些女性普遍比其他人更有吸引力，或者气味偏好是否是个人口味的问题。然后，我们探讨了生殖激素水平是否可以解释女性体臭的吸引力，以检验体臭吸引力可能是生殖健康的化学感觉标志这一观点。57 名男性对 28 名健康、自然循环的育龄女性的体臭进行了评分。我们在生育高峰期收集了所有的气味，以控制月经周期对体臭吸引力的影响。在收集气味时，评估了女性的唾液雌二醇、孕酮、睾酮和皮质醇水平，以检验激素水平是否可以解释体臭的吸引力。我们发现，男性对女性体臭的吸引力高度一致。有趣的是，女性体臭的吸引力可以由她们的雌二醇和孕酮水平来预测：女性的雌二醇水平越高，孕酮水平越低，她的体臭就越被评为有吸引力。通过证明女性体臭的吸引力可以由女性生殖激素水平来解释，但不能由皮质醇或睾酮水平来解释，我们提供了证据表明体臭是潜在生育能力的有效线索。
