ePrints

Judgements of attractiveness of the opposite sex and nostril differences in self-rated mood: The effects of androstenol

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Gareth RichardsORCiD

Downloads

• Accepted version [.pdf]

Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).

Abstract

Androstenol has been reported to influence judgements of attractiveness and to affect participants􏱑 mood. In the present stud􏰉, participants 􏰨ere asked to sniff androstenol or a control odour (pure ethanol) unilaterally with the left or right nostril. Subsequently, they rated the attractiveness of photographs of the opposite sex and their own feelings on four mood scales. Participants rated the photographs as significantly more attractive after sniffing androstenol compared with the control odour. This did not depend upon androstenol being perceived as pleasant. Androstenol made male participants feel more lively, and both male and female participants more sexy, when sniffed through the right compared with the left nostril. Participants rated themselves as more irritable and aggressive when exposed to androstenol through the left nostril. The findings are discussed in relation to the effects of arousal on attraction and in the context of current theories of hemispheric differences in emotion.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Beaton AA, Jones L, Benton D, Richards G

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Biological Psychology

Year: 2022

Volume: 167

Print publication date: 01/01/2022

Online publication date: 02/12/2021

Acceptance date: 30/11/2021

Date deposited: 30/11/2021

ISSN (electronic): 0301-0511

Publisher: Elsevier

URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108237

DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108237

Altmetrics

Share