Publication at Faculty of Humanities |
2009
Abstract
The significance of odor in mediating affective state in humans has become increasingly recognized in recent years (Weber & Heuberger, 2008). In particular, human body odor or its constituent compounds influence general mood (e.g.
Chen and Haviland-Jones, 1999), attentional state (Jacob et al., 2001) or proclivity towards other individuals, such as in a mate searching context (Saxton et al., 2008). Such effects are usually sex-specific, and women in particular appear more sensitive to, and cognizant of, olfactory cues (e.g.Havlicek et al., 2008).