Abstrakt
Previous studies suggest that people tend to select their fragrance to complement their body odour. As relatives share some qualities of their body odour one might expect that their ability to select complementary fragrance for their relatives would be higher compared to non-relatives.
We tested this hypothesis in two studies by comparing selection of a perfume for a target man performed by i) him, ii) relative (sister) or non-relative individual (girlfriend). Twelve pairs of men and their sisters took part in Study I and another 13 pairs of men and their girlfriends took part in Study II.
They were asked to select the most suitable fragrance from a list (N=24) which covered main perfume types. Target men subsequently applied the two perfumes to their armpits and for 12h worn cotton pads which served as stimuli.
The fragrance and body odour blends were subsequently rated for attractiveness by panels of female raters. We further asked an independent panel of raters to assess the fragrances alone.
In Study I, the body odour-fragrance blends selected by sisters were unexpectedly rated as more attractive compared to samples selected by the target men. This also applied to the ratings of the fragrances alone.
In Study II, we found that body odour and fragrance blends selected by girlfriends were rated as non-significantly more attractive compared to the selection made by the target men. However, there was no significant difference when fragrances were rated alone.
The results indicate that, irrespective of biological relatedness, women may be better at selecting perfumes than men, perhaps because they have more complex olfaction-related cognitive abilities.