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Pheromonal Influences on Male Perception of Female Attractiveness
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by Kristin Doepker and Shannon Zimmerman-Nguyen - University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Category: Physiological
The validity of Athena Pheromone 10:13TM, a pheromone perfume additive advertised to increase the attractiveness of female wearers, was tested on 46 non-smoking males. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions and exposed to pre-rated (attractive, average, and unattractive) female and animal photographs treated with pheromone-laced perfume, perfume, or no scent. Each participant was asked to rate the attractiveness, intelligence, and friendliness of each photograph. Ratings (Scent Condition x Animal vs. Female x Pre-rated Photograph) were analyzed with mixed factorial analysis of variance. Overall, both the perfume and pheromone-laced perfume significantly decreased the perceived attractiveness for both animal and female photographs, but had no effect on intelligence and friendliness ratings.