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Testosterone level changes after perceiving the body odour of a possible rival in human males: the role of facial symmetry

Testosterone level changes after perceiving the body odour of a possible rival in human males:... An individual’s body odour is a characteristic that is used to obtain information about conspecifics. However, to our knowledge the role of body odour and the degree of facial symmetry on testosterone changes among men as indicators of possible rivals has not been investigated yet. A group of 113 men were photographed to obtain their degree of facial symmetry, i.e., the small random deviations in facial bilateral traits. They smelled and assessed the odour of men with different grades of facial symmetry, and donated two saliva samples (pre- and post-stimulus sample) to measure the change in their testosterone levels. We found that testosterone levels decreased in symmetrical men who perceived the odour of asymmetrical men. Our results suggest that men could perceive characteristics in other men that are highly valued by women through odour to identify possible rivals, and that the observed decrease in testosterone levels could be related to an inhibition of competitive behaviours. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Behaviour Brill

Testosterone level changes after perceiving the body odour of a possible rival in human males: the role of facial symmetry

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0005-7959
eISSN
1568-539X
DOI
10.1163/1568539X-00003437
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

An individual’s body odour is a characteristic that is used to obtain information about conspecifics. However, to our knowledge the role of body odour and the degree of facial symmetry on testosterone changes among men as indicators of possible rivals has not been investigated yet. A group of 113 men were photographed to obtain their degree of facial symmetry, i.e., the small random deviations in facial bilateral traits. They smelled and assessed the odour of men with different grades of facial symmetry, and donated two saliva samples (pre- and post-stimulus sample) to measure the change in their testosterone levels. We found that testosterone levels decreased in symmetrical men who perceived the odour of asymmetrical men. Our results suggest that men could perceive characteristics in other men that are highly valued by women through odour to identify possible rivals, and that the observed decrease in testosterone levels could be related to an inhibition of competitive behaviours.

Journal

BehaviourBrill

Published: Jun 8, 2017

References