Why do we sleep in place of our partner when he is not there, or when we are wearing his shirt? A new study from the University of British Columbia, Canada, shows that the smell of his companion, even absent, would lower the stress hormone, cortisol. The results of this research appeared in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Women are more sensitive to odors
The researchers recruited 96 heterosexual couples. The men received a clean T-shirt to wear for 24 hours with instructions not to use perfume or deodorant and to avoid smoking or eating certain foods that affect body odor. The T-shirts were then frozen to preserve the smell.
The women were made to smell three different garments: either an unworn T-shirt, or a model worn by their partner, or by a stranger. They obviously did not know which T-shirt they had received. The study was made with this in mind, because women tend to have a better sense of smell than men, the authors explain. After sniffing the garment, they underwent a stress test involving a job interview simulated and a mental calculation task. They also answered questions about their stress levels and provided 5-7 saliva samples during the test to measure their cortisol levels.
Immediate relief
Women who smelled their partner’s t-shirt felt calmer before and after the ordeal. Those who correctly identified the garment even more so, suggesting that the effect of a partner’s scent is stronger when women know what they smell. Conversely, women who had been exposed to a foreign smell had higher cortisol levels throughout the test.
The authors speculate that evolutionary factors could influence why a foreign smell affected cortisol levels. “From an early age, humans fear strangers, especially men, so it’s possible that an unfamiliar scent could trigger a fight-or-flight response leading to elevated cortisol,” he said. said Marlise Hofer, lead author of the study. “It could happen without us being fully aware of it.” Scientists hope that these results can help people cope with stressful situations, when they are away from loved ones for example.
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