Preference for Human Body Odors is Influenced by Gender and Sexual Orientation
Kailey Leach
Beth Schwartz
Heather Tompkins
Rationale:
Considerable information shows that humans individual produce individual body odors that are largely determined by the genes that regulate the immune system and these odors are perceptible to others and may act as pheromones. Odor prints allow people to identify subgroups within the population which suggests that odor prints have a role in social recognition. For example, individuals are capable of distinguishing between kin and nonkin or the odor of themselves from the odor of other people. Even newborns can distinguish the scent of their mother from the scent of others. Many studies have been done involving body odor and sex. The studies are in general consensus that the opposite sexs find the other sex's odor to be attractive. All other studies done on body odor did not take sexual orientation into account. The researchers sought to determine if there is a difference in preference of odor from heterosexuals (male and female), lesbians, and gay men. In this study, heterosexuals, lesbians, and gay men indicated their preference for the odors of underarm sweat collected from other heterosexuals, lesbians, and gay men.
Method:
There were 24 odor donors that ranged in age from 18-35. There were six heterosexual males, six heterosexual females, six lesbians, and six gay men. Participants were recruited from the University of Pennsylvania and the greater Philadelphia community. Lesbians and gay males were recruited from gay and lesbian groups in the community or were friends of other participants who were recruited from these groups. Potential donors rated their current sexual behavior(past 12 months) on the 7 Point Kinsey Scale ranging from 0-exclusively heterosexual with no homosexuality to 6-exclusively homosexual no heterosexuality. Only those individuals who rated their sexual activity as 0's or 6's were chosen to participate in the study. The
Participants received $75 for completing the odor-donation phase.
The donors underwent a 9 day wash-out phase during which they used only unscented shampoos and conditioners and soaps, did not shave their armpits, and eliminated strong odor emitting foods such as garlic and curry from their diet. After this phase, donors wore gauze pads in the armpits for three days, changing to a new pad each day and storing the old pads in their home freezer in a sterile, labeled container provided by the researchers. Although the environment that the individuals were in (school, work, home) was not controlled, the environment from which the sample was taken (unshaven armpit) was controlled.
Once the samples were returned to the lab, each sample was frozen at -80 degrees Celsius to maintain the integrity of the chemosignal. Each pad was then cut into 6 pieces(12 pieces per odor donor, 288 total pieces).Each test bottle was created by taking 2 pieces from each of three donors within a odor class (heterosexual male, heterosexual female, lesbian, gay male) and combining them in a plastic squeeze bottle with a flip-top lid. The researchers created unique odors within each odor class so that no individual odor would be recognized. All the donors were represented in the test bottles at approximately the same frequency. There were 82 odor evaluators whose ages ranged from 18-35. The data from two participants had to be excluded because of computer difficulty during testing. There were 20 participants in each group. Participants received $15/hour for the competition of this phase. Evaluators made forced-choice preference judgements for odors from each of the following parings: a) heterosexual male verses gay male b) heterosexual male versus heterosexual female c) heterosexual female versus lesbian and d) gay male versus lesbian.
Procedure:
Participants were tested individually and were informed that the purpose of this experiment was to assess their preference for body odors. Participants completed 22 forced-choice preference trials, received a 10 minute break, and then completed the remaining 22 forced-choice trials. After an additional 7 minute break, they returned to rate the intensity and pleasantness of each odor.
Results:
Participants clearly exhibited preferences at greater than chance rates. the researchers noted that lesbians were tested a bit differently than the other groups because there is significant research to suggest that age plays a big part in lesbian orientation. The researchers analyzed all the lesbian results and they analyzed them from 2 groups, lesbians ages 18-25 and lesbians over the age of 25. Heterosexual males, heterosexual females, and lesbians preferred odors from heterosexual males over odors from gay males. Gay males preferred odors from other gay males. Heterosexual males, females, and lesbians(25 and over, but not under the age of 25) preferred odors from lesbians over odors from gay males. In the trials comparing odors from heterosexual females and lesbians all but heterosexual males preferred the odors of heterosexual females. Finally, gay males preferred odors from heterosexual females over the odors from heterosexual males.
Discussion:
The study suggests that there are qualitative differences in the perception of odors that are correlated with gender and sexual orientation. The differences in genes in each of the odor groups participants could have influenced each groups preference.
Application:
As humans, we can all sense odors that are pleasant, gross, appealing, attractive, unattractive, etc. Each person's body odor has to do with each individual's genes. There has been a lot of research on is being homosexual is nature or nurture. Some people have found that genes play a role in sexual orientation. If that is so, I feel that this study is valid. As a Christian, I do not personally believe that God would create a person who is "genetically" prone to be a homosexual. I believe that homosexuality is a choice and in that aspect, I do not believe that this study is valid.
Beth Schwartz
Heather Tompkins
Rationale:
Considerable information shows that humans individual produce individual body odors that are largely determined by the genes that regulate the immune system and these odors are perceptible to others and may act as pheromones. Odor prints allow people to identify subgroups within the population which suggests that odor prints have a role in social recognition. For example, individuals are capable of distinguishing between kin and nonkin or the odor of themselves from the odor of other people. Even newborns can distinguish the scent of their mother from the scent of others. Many studies have been done involving body odor and sex. The studies are in general consensus that the opposite sexs find the other sex's odor to be attractive. All other studies done on body odor did not take sexual orientation into account. The researchers sought to determine if there is a difference in preference of odor from heterosexuals (male and female), lesbians, and gay men. In this study, heterosexuals, lesbians, and gay men indicated their preference for the odors of underarm sweat collected from other heterosexuals, lesbians, and gay men.
Method:
There were 24 odor donors that ranged in age from 18-35. There were six heterosexual males, six heterosexual females, six lesbians, and six gay men. Participants were recruited from the University of Pennsylvania and the greater Philadelphia community. Lesbians and gay males were recruited from gay and lesbian groups in the community or were friends of other participants who were recruited from these groups. Potential donors rated their current sexual behavior(past 12 months) on the 7 Point Kinsey Scale ranging from 0-exclusively heterosexual with no homosexuality to 6-exclusively homosexual no heterosexuality. Only those individuals who rated their sexual activity as 0's or 6's were chosen to participate in the study. The
Participants received $75 for completing the odor-donation phase.
The donors underwent a 9 day wash-out phase during which they used only unscented shampoos and conditioners and soaps, did not shave their armpits, and eliminated strong odor emitting foods such as garlic and curry from their diet. After this phase, donors wore gauze pads in the armpits for three days, changing to a new pad each day and storing the old pads in their home freezer in a sterile, labeled container provided by the researchers. Although the environment that the individuals were in (school, work, home) was not controlled, the environment from which the sample was taken (unshaven armpit) was controlled.
Once the samples were returned to the lab, each sample was frozen at -80 degrees Celsius to maintain the integrity of the chemosignal. Each pad was then cut into 6 pieces(12 pieces per odor donor, 288 total pieces).Each test bottle was created by taking 2 pieces from each of three donors within a odor class (heterosexual male, heterosexual female, lesbian, gay male) and combining them in a plastic squeeze bottle with a flip-top lid. The researchers created unique odors within each odor class so that no individual odor would be recognized. All the donors were represented in the test bottles at approximately the same frequency. There were 82 odor evaluators whose ages ranged from 18-35. The data from two participants had to be excluded because of computer difficulty during testing. There were 20 participants in each group. Participants received $15/hour for the competition of this phase. Evaluators made forced-choice preference judgements for odors from each of the following parings: a) heterosexual male verses gay male b) heterosexual male versus heterosexual female c) heterosexual female versus lesbian and d) gay male versus lesbian.
Procedure:
Participants were tested individually and were informed that the purpose of this experiment was to assess their preference for body odors. Participants completed 22 forced-choice preference trials, received a 10 minute break, and then completed the remaining 22 forced-choice trials. After an additional 7 minute break, they returned to rate the intensity and pleasantness of each odor.
Results:
Participants clearly exhibited preferences at greater than chance rates. the researchers noted that lesbians were tested a bit differently than the other groups because there is significant research to suggest that age plays a big part in lesbian orientation. The researchers analyzed all the lesbian results and they analyzed them from 2 groups, lesbians ages 18-25 and lesbians over the age of 25. Heterosexual males, heterosexual females, and lesbians preferred odors from heterosexual males over odors from gay males. Gay males preferred odors from other gay males. Heterosexual males, females, and lesbians(25 and over, but not under the age of 25) preferred odors from lesbians over odors from gay males. In the trials comparing odors from heterosexual females and lesbians all but heterosexual males preferred the odors of heterosexual females. Finally, gay males preferred odors from heterosexual females over the odors from heterosexual males.
Discussion:
The study suggests that there are qualitative differences in the perception of odors that are correlated with gender and sexual orientation. The differences in genes in each of the odor groups participants could have influenced each groups preference.
Application:
As humans, we can all sense odors that are pleasant, gross, appealing, attractive, unattractive, etc. Each person's body odor has to do with each individual's genes. There has been a lot of research on is being homosexual is nature or nurture. Some people have found that genes play a role in sexual orientation. If that is so, I feel that this study is valid. As a Christian, I do not personally believe that God would create a person who is "genetically" prone to be a homosexual. I believe that homosexuality is a choice and in that aspect, I do not believe that this study is valid.