New study reveals women can tell if they like someone by their scent alone
Topics: Science, Sex and Relationships, Weird
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Tom Werner
Topics: Science, Sex and Relationships, Weird
A new study has revealed that women can make a quick decision if they like someone based on scent alone.
When meeting that person you've been speaking to online for a first date, there are a few things you can immediately take into consideration to decide whether you like that person.
First, does the date looked like their pictures? I mean, it can be pretty easy to catfish - so you want to make sure you're actually meeting the date you had planned to see.
Second of all, you've got how they present themselves; whether that be their clothing attire or even their scent.
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This can also work for potential friends according to one study, as it suggests women can make a quick decision about an individual based on their smell.
The data has been presented by Cornell University in New York, which has been published in Scientific Reports.
Researchers looked into the reactions of 40 different women aged between 18 and 30 who met new people featured in the experiment known as 'speed-friending'.
Wearing the same t-shirt for 12 hours, with participants bizarrely sniffing the scent of others taking part in the smell-craze study at the very beginning.
Then women then had ten separate four-minute conversations, and were then asked to smell and rate the cotton tees.
Essentially, the study found that judgements of people were based on the initial sniff of the t-shirt some 12 hours earlier.
Vivian Zayas, of Cornell University and co-author of the study, said: "People take a lot in when they’re meeting face to face. But scent — which people are registering at some level, though probably not consciously — forecasts whether you end up liking this person."
The study found that women's perceptions of people changed as they interacted with participants who initially gave off a negative impression based on their scent.
Meanwhile, first author Jessica Gaby added: "It’s your dietary choices. Are you a cat person or dog person? What laundry detergent do you use? All these judgments come together.
"It makes sense to me that the way you smell impacts the way I judge you. But I was most surprised by the learning, by the shift in the second set of readings—one interaction and you’re like, hmmm, maybe not. One in-person interaction with a person can change the way you perceive their body odor."
So, there you have it - make sure you whip the fragrances out next time, guys.