4: Natural Odours are irresistible... aren't they? Flashcards
What did researchers find about wild female boars when they smelt the urine of male boars?
= immediate mating position = irresistible smell OOOoooo
suggesting the power of smell
What is the Vomeronasal organ?
- found on top of mouth
- small organ
- linked to hypothalamus
- has influence in choosing partner
What type of pheromones released from the armpit is what women find appealing?
- derivative of testosterone
= Androstenol
What effects have been derived from research into rats and their pheromones?
- Lee-Boot effect
- Bruce effect
- Vandenburgh effect
- Whitten effect
What is the Lee-boot effect?
- synchronisation of female rats’s
McClintock Shared accommodation = female synchronisation
What is the Bruce effect?
- female rats more likely to miscarry + be mating with new male rat introduced afterwards
What is the Vandenburgh effect?
when a new male rat is introduced, the pre-pubescent females rats hit puberty sooner
Ellis + Garber Stepfather prevent vs single mother = faster puberty for females
What is the Whitten effect?
shorter time of recovery after pregnancy for female rats when a new male rat is introduces = ready to reproduce faster
Cutler Sweat of other women put on upper lip = shorter cycles = fertile for longer + quicker
What did Kirk-Smith et al find in their surgical mask study?
- Mask with Androstenol vs neutral
- Shown pictures of animals, buildings + people
- androstenol group = rate things more positively
- worked especially for females
= being nicer
What did Cowley + Brooksbank’s necklace study find?
- Asked females to weak necklace
- Androstenol vs neutral
- androstenol group = greater interaction with males the next day
What did Cutler et al 1998 find when male pheromone was added to aftershave on sociosexual behaviour in men?
- increase in sociosexual behaviour vs control
- kissing, huggin, sex etc
- 2+ OR 3+
What did McCoy et al 2002 find when female pheromone were added to perfumes on sociosexual behavioru in women?
- increase in sociosexual behaviour vs control
What did Kirk-Smith et al find about waiting rooms and pheromones?
- Chairs with added pheromone vs control
- women drawn to sit in the pheromone chair
What did Robin Tan + Mark Goldman 2015 find about how pheromones can affect alcohol consumption and anxiety levels?
- Made them smell a sweaty female t-shirt
- drank more alcohol (but was actually FAKE!)
- which meant it also helped with anxiety levels
- sat closer to the chair with the cardigan
What did Gistavsen et al find about how pheromones can affect which toilet cubicle you use?
- Sprayed Androstenol in some toilet
= males avoided that cubicle
= females drawn towards it
What are some problems with research into pheromones and how they influence our decisions?
- no control for attractiveness
- were the pheromone groups more attractive? - Self-report data
- subjective bias - Groups differed widely in relationship status
- married vs not married - affecting level of sociosexual behaviours
What is MHC?
Major Histocompatibility complex
- a section in our chromosome responsible for our immune response
What is the role of MHC in the ‘good gene’ theory of sexual selection?
- we are drawn towards people with different MHC
- given survival advantage as they would have a range of immune response vs same
What did Wedekind et al’s 1995 study on smelly t-shirt and MHC find?
- Found each ppt MHC
- Predicted which smelly t-shirt they would like (based on MHC)
- women (who weren’t on contraceptive pills) = liked t-shirts with opposite MHC
What is an explanation for why women in Wedekind et al’s study of smelly t-shirts liked shirt’s with similar MHC?
- contraceptive pills = mimic pregnancy
- body now looking for people similar to them to help them
What seems to be the best characteristics for attracting the best MHC partner?
Thornhill + Gangstad 1999
- Symmetry in the face or body
- as it means lots of testosterones - Oposite MHC smell
What do we tend to do when we go shopping for perfumes/ aftershaves?
- gear towards perfumes which are similar to our MHC - enhance it
- When buying for others just looking for opposite MHC, so not so good at buying perfume for others
What did Black + Biron’s study find, challenging the role of pheromones?
- 3 groups: Androstenol, Exaltolide, no odour
- Brief interaction to prevent influence from personality traits
- no significant preferences/ attraction reported
What factors should you consider when attempting to form a relationship between pheromones and attraction?
- Grammer, 1993
- olfactory sensitivity moderated by menstrual cycle - peak during ovulation - Christiansen 1998
- stress can suppress pheromones - Black + Biron, 1982
- weak smell of not long enough exposure (alt explanation for their findings?) - Grammer et al, 2005
- few double blind controlled experiments - Pause, 2004
- context important: Pheromones could communicate danger? other meanings?
