Forces of Attraction- scent of desire

We all give our heroes and heroines attributes that make them attractive to each other. One of them being the way they smell. I always love a scene where the heroine rests her head at the crook of the hero’s neck and breaths him in. But little did I know how key that scent truly was to their attraction.

We all have lists of who we think will be our ideal partner. Appearances, likes and dislikes, hobbies, careers Etc. And yes they are factors in initial attraction too. But a lot of the time when we meet them or date them, they are lacking “Something” and the people we do end up with possess only a few of the traits we wanted. Some researchers believe the missing factor that explains our choices is the subconscious analysis of their scent. The so-called “Chemistry” or “Electricity” we feel actually exists.

Though we are usually only partially aware of how people’s scent affects us, research suggests that we come equipped to choose romantic partners and the choice has biological implications. Scent based cues triggered in our brains help us focus on optimal partners…the ones likely to stay faithful and create healthy children with us. And when we tend to ignore what our noses tell us, or alter our chemistry, then the relationships might have a precarious future…including sexual discontent, infertility, and in extreme cases unhealthy children.

In a Study conducted at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland…When asked to sniff various t-shirts that had been worn by 44 men for two straight nights, only using scent-free soaps. Women specified which shirts had scents they found attractive. It was found that women preferred shirts worn by men immunologically (MHC factor) dissimilar to them…Long explaination short…the scents attracted them to men whose genes would contribute to offspring that were more disease resistant. The women also said the smell of their favorite shirts reminded them of their husbands or boyfriends indicating that the scent selection occurs outside the study too.

MHC profiles are as distinct as fingerprints. It is difficult to predict who is MCH compatible with whom. There are thousands of possible gene combinations. It varies across the human race, not particular to skin color, ethnicity, one that attracts one woman may completely repel another.

Some think that wearing perfumes and using scented soaps and deodorants inhibit us finding a “true” match. But another study showed compatible MHC men and women were attracted to similar fragrances. So if you choose your perfume by what you like and not what’s the “In Thing” then it might improve your chances of finding your mate.

And if you think this is tied to heterosexuals … nope it seems gaydar is real. Gay men strongly preferred shirts with the odor of other gay men… the same for lesbians. Straight women rated the odor of straight men higher than gay men.

Yes Scent does play a key factor in finding a “soulmate” but after we meet several that are appealing, that’s when the personality and the appearance come into play and we narrow it down to the one we can love. Factors of attraction just opens the door