NEW YORK, Apr 28 (Reuters Health) - Forget cologne. There's something
irresistible about a sweaty man, according to British researchers.
In a study in which women were unwittingly exposed to a man's hormone-packed
armpit sweat, the intoxicating scent boosted the women's attraction to even
average-looking men. The allure was particularly strong for women who were not
on birth control pills or who were at the midpoint of their menstrual cycles.
Dr. Nick Neave, of the University of Northumbria in Newcastle upon Tyne,
reported the findings recently at the annual meeting of the British
Psychological Society.
In the study, 32 college women were asked to rate the attractiveness of male
characters in stories, male body shapes, and men's faces in photos. Unknown to
the women, during part of the study, the researchers dabbed the lab environment
with male pheromones, hormones found in body secretions that are known to
trigger physiological responses in other people.
Neave's team found that the sweaty conditions prompted women to give higher
ratings to the characters, body shapes, and photos. The "average-looking" faces
made out best, with the pheromones giving them a bigger boost on the
attractiveness scale, compared with the better-looking faces.
The 16 women on birth control pills, however, showed less response to the
pheromones. In a statement, Neave said: "This study provides some evidence that
male attractiveness can be influenced by pheromones. Women who use oral
contraception may be missing out on natural signals of attraction."
