A rose by any other name…

Previously we posted how women dressed a certain way during certain phases of their fertility cycle- namely that women who were ovulating were thought to look more attractive and fashionable. A new study looks at how women’s body odour might affect their attractiveness. That’s right. Body odour might be the new love potion #9 for men. Now we aren’t talking the fresh-out-of-the gym smell, but more your resting/sleeping smelly state. Psychological scientists Saul Miller and Jon Maner from Florida State University looked at the intersections of smell, hormones, and ovulation. T-shirts that had been previously worn by ovulating women were rated by the men that smelt them as most pleasant, as compared with t-shirts that were worn by non-ovulating women or by no one at all. What might be even more compelling is that men’s testosterone levels increased after smelling the t-shirts of the ovulating women. This is the first research to provide evidence that women’s fertility can influence male testosterone, and in part provide a biological inspiration for the promotion of mating behaviors.

Adapted from materials from the Association for Psychological Science