How Parents Use Olfactory Clues

Any number of olfactory studies have concluded that Mom and Dad are able to recognize their child by scent but, until now, researchers had no evidence as to how a child’s odor influenced the behavior of his parents.

Researchers at Utrecht University in the Netherlands asked parents to have their children wear a T-shirt for several days, after which they conducted a blindfolded test. Fathers who could correctly identify their child’s odor were emotionally closer and paid more attention to their child. Mothers who could correctly identify their child’s odor punished their child less. Meanwhile, parents who rated their child’s odor as more pleasant - a potential indicator that the child is not their own - did the opposite: they were less close and more punishing.

The new research provides important insight into how humans use scent for “investment decisions” regarding their offspring, according to Dr. Judith Semon Dubas, Associate Professor of Developmental Psychology at Utrecht and lead author of the study. “These results provide the first preliminary evidence in humans that olfactory cues may guide parents in the allocation of care.”