Scent of a Woman: Men’s Testosterone Responses to Olfactory Ovulation Cues

Women around the world spend billions of dollars each year on exotic smelling perfumes and lotions in the hopes of attracting a mate. However, according to a new study in Psychological Science, going “au naturale” may be the best way to capture a potential mate’s attention.  Smells are known to be critical to animal mating habits: Animal studies have shown that male testosterone levels are influenced by odor signals emitted by females, particularly when they are ovulating (that is, when they are the most fertile). Saul L. Miller and Jon K. Maner from Florida State University wanted to see if a similar response occurs in humans. In two studies, women wore t-shirts for 3 nights during various phases of their menstrual cycles. Male volunteers smelled one of the t-shirts that had been worn by a female participant. In addition, some of the male volunteers smelled control t-shirts that had not been worn by anyone. Saliva samples for testosterone analysis were collected before and after the men smelled the shirts. Results revealed that men who smelled t-shirts of ovulating women subsequently had higher levels of testosterone than men who smelled shirts worn by non-ovulating women or men who smelled the control shirts. In addition, after smelling the shirts, the men rated the odors on pleasantness and rated the shirts worn by ovulating women as the most pleasant smelling.

Miller, S., & Maner, J. (in press). Scent of a woman: Men’s testosterone responses to olfactory ovulation cues. Psychological Science.