Pheromones on female ratings of attractiveness: oral contraceptives and the menstrual

[Chemo (BDC Concepts)]

Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2002 Aug;23(4):291-7. Related Articles, Links

Effects of

putative male pheromones on female ratings of male attractiveness: influence of oral contraceptives and the

menstrual cycle.

Thorne F, Neave N, Scholey A, Moss M, Fink B.

Human Cognitive Neuroscience Unit,

Division of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.

Previous research has revealed that

natural and synthetic pheromones can enhance ratings of opposite sex attractiveness. The present study investigated

the effects of exposure to male axillary secretions on female ratings of the sexual attractiveness of male stimuli.

Thirty-two female undergraduates, half of whom were contraceptive pill users, rated male vignette characters and

photographs of male faces on aspects of attractiveness. On two separate study days, corresponding to different

phases of their menstrual cycle, stimuli were presented while exposed to male axillary pheromones and under a

control condition (no pheromone). The order of testing was balanced with respect to pheromone/control condition and

menstrual cycle phase. Pheromone exposure resulted in significantly higher attractiveness ratings of vignette

characters and faces. Use of the contraceptive pill or menstrual cycle phase had equivocal effects on some vignette

items and neither had any influence on female ratings of male facial attractiveness. The results of this study

suggest that exposure to natural male axillary pheromones can significantly enhance female perceptions of various

aspects of male attractiveness.

...for all the college people in the crowd ;)

It's a

small sample group but the results are significant.

Bobby

[DrSmellThis]

Yep, bread and butter stuff.

Great for newbies to be aware of. Thanks for helping.

[Chemo (BDC Concepts)]

I know it's pretty

basic but like you said...not everyone that makes their way to the pheromone mecca that is Love-scent comes with a

vast knowledge base. On the contrary, most will arrive with questions and shadowy doubts. Hopefully a few posts

like that from peer reviewed sources will help guide their decision.

Bobby

[DrSmellThis]

Absolutely. An informed grass

roots membership is in everyone's best interest. Thanks again.

[belgareth]

I

know it's pretty basic but like you said...not everyone that makes their way to the pheromone mecca that is

Love-scent comes with a vast knowledge base. On the contrary, most will arrive with questions and shadowy doubts.

Hopefully a few posts like that from peer reviewed sources will help guide their decision.

Bobby
I

know that when I came here it was with a full load of sceptisism. It took me a long while, skulking in the shadows,

reading posts and following links before even considering buying anything. Sure glad I did the research first. Even

then, I made a lot of mistakes before finding things that worked for me.

[Chemo (BDC Concepts)]

The eternal

question: how does one not versed in an area become knowledgeable? Surely it is not by doing their own research! :D

In all seriousness, most consumers don't want to invest the time to do the research so it is up to us (the

manufacturers) to provide the reading material. I just hope that other manufacturers will follow suit and use

scientific evidence to support their marketing claims. What are the odds? ;)

Bobby

[belgareth]

The

eternal question: how does one not versed in an area become knowledgeable? Surely it is not by doing their own

research! :D In all seriousness, most consumers don't want to invest the time to do the research so it is up to us

(the manufacturers) to provide the reading material. I just hope that other manufacturers will follow suit and use

scientific evidence to support their marketing claims. What are the odds? ;)

Bobby
Negligable! Why

worry about the small segment who want facts when the majority want fantasy?

[DrSmellThis]

Some provide info and some

don't.

Of course, we've been providing information about pheromones for years here, including scientific

information.

I just bumped my "phero references" thread, for example, which also has the JVK link.

[oscar]

I know it's pretty basic but like you said...not everyone that makes their way to the pheromone mecca

that is Love-scent comes with a vast knowledge base. On the contrary, most will arrive with questions and shadowy

doubts. Hopefully a few posts like that from peer reviewed sources will help guide their decision.

Bobby


Bobby, Doc, Bel, Bruce, et al.,

I've got an idea how we can keep interesting research papers like this

readily available to newbies and veterans alike without the redundancies that occur over time from such studies

being posted repeatedly.

All that would be needed would be the creation of a new forum entitled "Research"

which could be located with, and be similar to the current archives.

Upon seeing an article such as this, or

after being otherwise apprised of it, an admin or moderator could COPY (NOT move, just copy) the article to the

Research Forum, leaving the original article and the subsequent discussion intact within the forum in which it was

posted.

The discussion segment of the copy of the thread that's landed in the Research Forum could then be cut

away, but a link would be provided directing readers to where they could find the article on the active discussion

board where they could, if desired, view the public discussion and post their contributions.

This way there

could be one board with thread after thread of concisely titled Research studies, papers, and articles where any

user could find the accumulated knowledge of years of Pheromone Research, reading only the studies if that's their

goal, and being able to choose which topics he or she might decide to view or contribute to in the discussion

area.

Of the nine "user write-able" forums on this board only two are currently devoted solely to the study of

Pheromone Science. I think adding one with a specifically "Scientific" theme would be good for our overall

credibility.

Oscar :)

[DrSmellThis]

I like it, (!) except for

removing the discussion part, as discussion should be considered part of research and science. But it'd still be OK

if all the links were included. So I guess I like your whole idea.