Hold onto your nostrils, because we're diving deep into the mysterious world of pheromones!

• Pheromones? Basically, they're chemical signals that could influence our behavior. However, scientists can't quite agree if they have a strong effect on humans.

• Lundstrom & Olsson (2005) were on a mission: they wanted to see if androstadienone (a derivative of testosterone and found in sweat) affects women's moods.
• Experiment: Exposed women to androstadienone or a control solution. Also added a twist - there was either a male or female experimenter present.
• Results: Androstadienone made women happier in the presence of a male experimenter. No effect with a female experimenter. So, does this mean the chemical makes women react more to men?
• BUT WAIT
  • The amount of androstadienone they used? Way more than what’s in regular male sweat!
  • Could the male experimenter's handsomeness skew results? (Gosh, we hope he was a looker!)

• A sex pheromone should ideally signal gender. No gender signal? Probably not a sex pheromone!
• Hare et al. (2017) wanted to figure out if androstadienone (AND) and estratetraenol (EST) signal gender and affect how we see potential mates.
• Experiment Setup
  • Participants were exposed to AND or EST masked with clove oil or just clove oil (control).
  • Participants were shown gender-neutral faces and had to guess gender.
  • Then, they rated opposite-sex photos on a hotness scale of 1-10. 🔥
  • Fun fact: It was a double-blinded study with both male and female experimenters!
• Results: Drumroll... No difference! Neither AND nor EST signaled gender or attractiveness. So, no dice on them being sex pheromones.