Non-randomised trial, 1982
Does a human pheromone affect mood at different times of the cycle?
Possibly: women exposed to a pheromone in the middle of their cycle rated themselves as less aggressive, but it did not affect happiness, energy, sexiness, or irritability. This is a very small uncontrolled study.
What they did
Women applied either a pheromone (5 alpha-androst-16-en-3 alpha-ol) or placebo to their upper lip each morning for a month and rated their mood each evening on five scales.
What they found
In the middle of the menstrual cycle, women exposed to the pheromone rated themselves as more submissive rather than aggressive compared to placebo. The pheromone did not significantly affect ratings of happy/depressed, lethargic/lively, sexy/unsexy, or irritable/good-tempered.
What it means for you
A chemical that may work as a pheromone might reduce aggression mid-cycle when olfactory sensitivity is higher, but has minimal effects on other moods. The sample size is not reported, there was no randomization, and effects were very small.
1 month
study duration
5 mood scales
tested
mid-cycle
when effect appeared
About the study
- Original title
- The influence of androstenol - a putative human pheromone - on mood throughout the menstrual cycle
- Authors
- Benton D
- Journal
- Biological psychology
- Year
- 1982
- Study design
- Non-randomised trial
- What was tested
- Androstenol pheromone versus placebo
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/0301-0511(82)90047-3
Topics
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