Hexadecanal - Body odour smell effects in men and women

31 replies

ArabellaScott · 19/11/2021 22:22

Found this fascinating:

'A chemical that is sometimes emitted from human skin, breath and faeces has no detectable smell, but it appears to influence people’s behaviour, with men becoming calmer and women becoming more aggressive.'

'“It’s below the threshold of conscious awareness, yet hexadecanal apparently influences the behaviour of males and females differently,” says de Groot. “These are really striking effects [that underline] the fact that just because we are not aware of it doesn’t mean it doesn’t strongly affect us.”'

www.newscientist.com/article/2298435-body-odour-chemical-makes-men-calmer-but-women-more-aggressive/

The original study is available here:

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abg1530

OP posts:

FlibbertyGiblets · 19/11/2021 22:51

Omg I often say to new mums on here " pls sniff baby's head for me" cos there is nothing like a new baby's head smell, is there (apart from puppy biscuity ears?)
Wow.

HesperusWreck · 19/11/2021 22:51

Basically, don't try to get between a woman and her baby.😂

AnyOldPrion · 19/11/2021 22:48

'In summary, babies emit HEX from their head. This is expected to trigger aggression in women but block aggression in men, and both of these impacts are expected to increase baby survival.'

Interesting. The aggression I felt was never directed AT my babies though, only at anything that threatened them. When everything’s functioning as it’s meant to, the human body is an astonishing thing.

allmywhat · 19/11/2021 22:47

Or possibly the water supply.

allmywhat · 19/11/2021 22:46

Wow, they should start putting that in perfume.

Original poster

ArabellaScott · 19/11/2021 22:23

Oh, I only just noticed this bit in the study itself:

'In summary, babies emit HEX from their head. This is expected to trigger aggression in women but block aggression in men, and both of these impacts are expected to increase baby survival.'

OP posts:

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