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Researchers have found that two steroids believed to have pheromone properties do not affect participants’ perceptions of attractiveness. The study suggests these steroids should be dropped from the list of possible human pheromones. Other studies have shown that attraction can occur in half a second and that women become more attracted to alpha males when ovulating, while men find ovulating women’s faces particularly attractive. Additionally, a recent study found that a woman’s egg plays an active role in choosing the “winning” sperm through chemoattractants.
Human pheromones are often perceived as the built-in love potions we carry around with us, and the quest for the perfect blend has long been a driving force for perfume and cologne makers. Now, however, researchers are saying that something smells like fish, or actually, when it comes to human pheromones, there may be no smell at all.
In a 2017 study, heterosexual participants were exposed to two different steroids (androstadienone and estratetraenol) which are believed to have pheromone properties. Participants were then shown images of men or women, as well as computer-generated gender-neutral faces, and asked to rate the attractiveness of the people in the photos.
The expectation was that the steroids affected participants’ perceptions, causing them to perceive photos of the opposite sex as more attractive than usual and gender-neutral images as more feminine (for male participants) or more masculine (for female participants). . Instead, nothing happened, and the participants viewed the images the same way they would have without the boosting steroids.
Lead author Leigh Simmons, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Western Australia, said the research suggests the two steroids used in the study should be dropped from the list of possible human pheromones.
So if it’s not the pheromones…
A 2008 study showed that people become attracted to someone else in half a second, even if they aren’t immediately aware of it.
According to one study, women become more attracted to “alpha males” when they are ovulating, while another study found that men find the face of an ovulating woman particularly attractive.
A recent study found that for conception, a woman’s egg plays an active role in choosing the “winning” sperm by releasing chemicals called chemoattractants; these chemoattractants have different effects on the sperm of different men.
