Our emotions are expressed in many ways – and even if you think you can hide them behind your poker face – others can still whisper them... Through smell. More and more research shows that emotions and personality traits are expressed in our body odor, and we are able to detect differences in different body odors. We used Forefront and Claude to sniff out this fascinating scientific area.
The mechanics behind changing body odors remain shrouded in mystery, but research shows that humans are able to interpret body odors, with women exhibiting special sensitivity – probably a biological evolution from being the primary caregivers of babies, who are not yet able to express emotions verbally and therefore their most advanced 'expression' is crying (which also secretes odor through tears) and body odor.
A Chinese study found that the greater a person's perception of smell, the less loneliness and more friends they report. Another study, by the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, investigated the relationship between different people based on similarities between their body odors, and found that both humans and sophisticated electronic noses can predict which people will report immediate "chemistry" by comparing their body odor. Even studies that included smelling clothes previously worn by people in different moods found that the smells were influenced by moods that were "trapped" by the smell of clothes.
Specific molecules, such as anxiety-regulating hexanal, are likely responsible for increasing or decreasing levels of trust between people. Unlike verbal expressions or facial expressions, which we can fake, chemical emissions betray our true mood and emotions.
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