If You Wanna Know If He Loves You So…It’s In His Armpit

The smell of a man’s sweat differs according to what mood he is in and women can pick up on changes that indicate attraction, according to the latest “stinky t-shirt” research. The study, led by Dr. Denise Chen, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Rice University in Texas, involved introducing two types of male sweat to nineteen women in their twenties - one type was labelled “normal,” the other “sexual.” The sweat was gathered from a selection of men who had polyester pads fitted in their armpits.

The “normal” sweat was gathered during a 20-minute session in which the men were asked to watch educational videos. They were then asked to watch 20 minutes of an erotic video, during which the “sexual” sweat was gathered.

The female participants were exposed to these different scents while researchers monitored their brain activity. Although the women didn’t realize it, their brains not only recognized the scents but responded to them. Dr. Chen said the “sexual” sweat lit up different regions of the participants’ brains, indicating that the female brain is capable of recognizing the smell of a man who is attracted to her.

Dr. Chen and her colleagues next intend to expand their research by looking at how these scents actually affect a man and woman’s behavior toward each other.