Terms of Use Privacy Policy HIDE AskMen GROOMING Fragrances Pheromones And Sexual Attraction © Getty Images Pheromones And Sexual Attraction She's Secretly Attracted To Your B.O. While we aren’t very forgiving of body odour, there’s a phenomenon that occurs when attraction is playing: We often love the natural scent emitted by our romantic partners or potential mates. Adam Hurley This phenomenon is pheromones; they’re chemical signals that are responsible for one being’s attractiveness or attraction to another. Our bodies release pheromones through sweat, urine, skin, and saliva, while a small organ inside the nose — the vomeronasal organ — receives them subconsciously. The nervous system communicates this attraction to the hypothalamus, resulting in an altered mood, and heightened heart rate, body temperature and breathing. As all of this occurs, we immediately attach this musk to our emotions. Simply put: If your girlfriend likes when you don’t wear deodorant, it’s because she is naturally aroused by your body’s chemical excretions. You don’t necessarily smell good, but you smell incredible to her, and it’s a big reason why she’s attracted to you.
Pheromones are perplexing to scientists, since their effectiveness differs from one species to the next. For example, the female silk moth will release a molecule that lures males from far away to come mate with her. Similarly, the molecules in male mouse urine can accelerate puberty for females. It’s not known how effective pheromones are in humans, or what weight they have in our attraction to someone else.
There are four types of pheromones:
Releasers: The pheromones responsible for sexual attraction; they’re almost instantly received and effective. Primers: Slow-acting, hormone-altering pheromones that influence menstrual cycles, pregnancy retention, and puberty/sexual development. Signallers: Genetic “odour imprints” that help us identify someone by their scent. Most useful between mothers and newborns. Modulators: Mood-altering pheromones, often good for calming anxiety. In some species, pheromones are also used to communicate territory or alarm; many insects mark the area surrounding their eggs, which tells other females to lay their eggs elsewhere. Whether it’s a friendly warning or a threat, these chemical signals are understood by other members of that species.
That’s where pheromones get especially interesting; they don’t just play a role in attraction, but in how the members of one species interact.
Often times, women who live or work together will experienced synchronized periods. A 1998 study by Martha McClintock posits that pheromones released through the skin and sweat are responsible for this phenomenon, and that the women are communicating subconsciously. The pheromones either speed up or decelerate ovulation in each woman until they are all ovulating together. (Many scientists have refuted this study, while others honour it.)
In terms of attraction, pheromones can work against you, too. They’re just as likely to repel someone — or to have no effect at all — than to attract. And it’s not necessarily mutual, either: Sometimes, you might be drawn to someone else’s pheromones, and he or she might have no reaction to yours — or worse, that person might have a negative reaction. It’s all happening subconsciously, though, so this isn’t a recommendation to cease wearing deodorant to see who finds your musk appealing. Pheromones are largely released through skin and hair — not just while sweating — and even if she eventually forgives or adores your BO, you’ll still need to woo her the traditional way.
When you feel attracted to someone else, or when you exude confidence, your pheromones are likely going to work in your favour. For men, the hormone androsterone is behind this chemical signal, and for women, estrogens. In heterosexual individuals, these two attract one another, and can have significant mood-altering effects on a potential mate. (For example, male pheromones can accelerate a woman’s menstrual cycle, or even increase her fertility.) While your outward attractiveness plays a significant part in picking someone up, so do these chemical signals, meaning you might find yourself with someone who is “out of your league,” or vice versa, and the attraction feels inexplicable. Hopefully you’re a likeable guy and that’s working to your benefit, but it also might be a pheromone match.
One 2008 study monitored the response of homosexual individuals to synthetic androsterone and estrogens, and found that homosexual men have the same response to androsterone as heterosexual women; similarly, homosexual women’s anterior hypothalamus — the part of the brain responsible for arousal — responded to estrogens just as positively as a heterosexual male would. However, homosexual men were also aroused by estrogens.
A 2005 study used pheromones in sweat from hetero- and homosexual men and women to gauge attraction. Homosexual men and women both felt most drawn to the pheromones of their respective homosexual counterpart. Heterosexual men and women — as well as homosexual women — preferred the sweat of heterosexual males over homosexual males. The same goes for homosexual female sweat: All three other groups preferred the heterosexual female sweat. Heterosexual men were indifferent to hetero- or homosexual females’ sweat, and homosexual men preferred the sweat of heterosexual women over that of heterosexual men.
The conclusion? One’s sexuality is aligned with his or her pheromone response and attraction to potential mates. If you’re a gay man and you meet a pair of identical twins — one gay, one straight — you might subconsciously know which one is in your dating pool, even without any direct indication.
That’s the phenomenon working: Attraction is often subconscious, though not as inexplicable as we may think.
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