Making Science Happen

[TheInventor]

I've had an on-again-off-again relationship with pheromones for several years now. I've noticed some subjective effects, but not enough to rule out placebo. I've been consistently frustrated by the lack of conclusive scientific data to prove the effectiveness of pheromones as a sexual attractant. And so, I've decided to do a little science myself.

The Experiment:
I will be systematically testing whether NPA has an effect on random strangers I have brief conversations with. The test will be blind (but not double-blind) and placebo controlled.

The Methodology:
Each test day, my girlfriend will seal herself in our spare bedroom with NPA, Burberry Brit cologne, plastic food handling gloves, and 1 clean t-shirt. She will use a random number generator to determine whether that day will be a pheromone day (in which I will wear NPA pheromones, covered by the cologne) or a placebo day (in which I only wear the cologne). Fortunately, I fall into the section of the population that is unable to smell androstenone.

If the random number generator chooses that the day is a pheromone day, girlfriend will put on a plastic glove (this is to ensure that the NPA bottle is not contaminated) and apply 1 dab at a time to her finger. She will smear the dab across the collar of the t-shirt. For each pheromone day, she will increase the number of dabs applied. I'd like to ask the community how many total dabs I should stop at, before the obviousness of OD prevents further useful data. At that point, she will decrease the number of dabs until we reach 1 again. After that, we she will repeat the cycle. She will then cover the area with 2-3 sprays of the cologne. If the random number generator chooses that the day is a placebo day, she will only apply the cologne, and not the pheromones. She will leave the bedroom and I will wait several minutes to make sure the shirt is dry.

I will then get dressed, including the treated shirt. I will drive to a local Target store, about 15 minutes away. I will enter and approach 5, random, relatively isolated strangers. I will tell them a quick, stupid joke, potentially followed by asking if they can tell me a stupid joke. I will observe the social behavior of the participant.

When I finish, I will come home and log my results in this thread. I will also include other relevant information, such as my appearance that day and potential psychological effects from the pheromones. I will also guess whether I was wearing the pheromones. I won't, however, learn whether or not I was wearing the pheromones until 10 days in, 20 days in, and at the end of the experiment.

I will rate several attributes on a scale from 0 to 10. These include:
- appearance. 10 means I'm going to a wedding. 5 mean I look fine but not great. 0 means I look repulsive. Note that this isn't about my attractiveness in general, but only how I present myself from day to day.
- social experience per person. 10 means they were utterly delighted by me. 5 means they were courteous and polite, but otherwise indifferent. 0 means they were angry and annoyed that I would talk to them.
- confidence. since general confidence can affect how people react to others, I will be rating my confidence, even though I realize it can potentially be affected by the pheromones. 10 means I feel like the world belongs to me. 5 means I feel neutral. 0 means I feel afraid of people and generally crappy about life.
- whether or not I'm wearing pheromones. 10 means I'm basically certain I have them on. 0 means I'm certain I don't. 5 means I have no idea one way of the other.

About me:
I am 30 years old, caucasian. I'm nerdy and meek, but I do consistently exercise on a treadmill.