This morning on the Blue loop I uncomfortably squeezed in between two people to grab the last open seat. The second I sat down I instantly noticed a stench coming from the man sitting right next to me. I began to move closer and closer to the women on the other side of me. This unfortunate situation led me to think about scent and attraction. Obviously when someone smells good it is more attractive than if a person smells bad, but can your own individual scent attract a specific person?
I found that the answer to this question is yes. Each person has an individual scent that is made up of genes that make up their immune system. The, “‘Odor print’ is part of a region of genes known as the major histocompatibility complex (MHC)” (Dove, Laurie). The major histocompatibility complex’s of mens are different from our own and we are attracted to the, “odor prints”, of men who have different immune systems than us. For example if I had a really weak immune system I would be more attracted to men with an “odor print” or scent that represented a strong immune system.
In a recent study , that looks further into scent and attraction, a group of males wore told to wear the same shirt two days. These shirts were then randomly assorted and given out to a group of women. The study found that, “Women were most attracted to men with an MHC most dissimilar from their own, while T-shirts worn by guys with similar MHC profiles tended to be rated as ‘fatherly’ or ‘brotherly’ but not sexually attractive” (Dove, Laurie).
The findings of this study prove that opposites really do attract.
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/13/the-power-of-smell-in-picking-sex- partners/
http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/men/sweating-odor/attractive-man-smell1.htm
My best friend has always had a strange body odor that I’ve always thought might be something in his clothes, how they clean in their house or maybe his soap. Your blog is really interesting and I agree 100% about how you react to another person’s smell. Another intriguing question that has come up to my mind is about why you can’t smell your own house’s odor, all my friends say my house smells in a particular way and I say the same about theirs too but why is that we cant smell our own house? I found this article that explains a little bit the science behind it. http://mentalfloss.com/article/69262/science-explains-why-you-cant-smell-your-own-house
This is incredibly interesting. Perhaps this has a link to when you think of someone as more of a brother rather than a sexual partner. Although I’m sure much of it is due to emotion, maybe their “odor print” is what causes the initial step toward that brotherly love feeling or even the fabled “friend-zone”. It would also be interesting to see if it correlates at all with relationship length.