“Explain How Pheromones Affect Human Behavior”

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Pheromones are chemical messengers that communicate information from one
member of a specific species to another. They are produced in liquid form by exocrine
glands, detected by smelling through the vomeronasal or VNO and then processed in the
accessory olfactory bulb in animals but whether or not there exists a biological mechanism
to process pheromones in humans is still unclear. Additionally, human fetuses have the
accessory olfactory bulb but it regresses and disappears after birth. As for the VNO, some
humans have it and some don’t; even when it comes to the ones who have it, it seems to be
disconnected from the nervous system. However, there’s still a possibility that pheromonal
information in humans is processed elsewhere. There are 4 different kinds of pheromones
that all affect the physiology and behavior of the animals of the same species; sex
pheromones, trail pheromones, alarm pheromones and social pheromones. Furthermore, it
is assumed that Steroids are the human pheromones. Androstenol, androsterone,
androstadienone, as well as estratetraenol are all steroids, externally secreted by humans
and all have a musk smell. Androstadienone is a putative human pheromone signaling
sexual attractiveness and being exposed to it, is thought to increase the mood of
heterosexual women and may trigger attraction.
A pheromone is a chemical substance produced and released into the environment
by an animal affecting the behaviour of others of its own species. Most commonly,
pheromones affect sexual and mating behaviours. Although psychologists have not found
actual pheromones in humans, there is research showing that some chemicals under
controlled conditions may lead humans to show behaviours similar to what we see in
animals.
One research-study that examines the effect of pheromones on human behavior is of
Lundstrom and Olsson (2005), where they carried out an experiment with the aim to
examine the impact of androstadienone, a derivative of testosterone, on womens’ mood
when exposed to a male or a female individual. The sample of the experiment was
consisted of 37 heterosexual female volunteers, with mean age 25 years and a normal
menstrual cycle, who were put into 4 different conditions. In the first condition the
participant was sprayed with androstadienone and then tested by a 30-year-old male
experimenter, while in the second condition she was tested by a 28-year-old female
experimenter. In the third condition the volunteer was sprayed with a placebo solution and
then tested by a 30-year-old male experimenter, while in the fourth condition she was
tested by a 28-year-old female experimenter. In the present study there were two IVs;
whether the participant was sprayed with androstadienone or control solution, as well as
the gender of the experimenter she was tested by and the DV was the participant’s mood,
measured by psychophysiological arousal, attention shown and rating of male
attractiveness. The experiment used a repeated measures design, as well as a double-blind
technique, as neither the participants nor the experimenters were aware of the aim of the
study. The purpose was to observe the attraction towards the experimenter, in relation to
the androstadienone taken. The results showed that androstadienone increased the
woman’s mood and psychophysiological arousal only when they were dealing with a male
experimenter, thus showing the cause-effect relationship between the pheromone
androstadienone and attraction, highlighting the role of pheromones in human behavior.
Although the effects of pheromones of human behavior have been widely
questioned, the present study provided support for the argument, suggesting pheromones
exert an impact on human behavior. Specifically, it can be concluded that androstadienone
serves of signaling sexual attractiveness, since the heterosexual women exposed to it
showed increased mood in the presence of a male experimenter, showing that this
pheromone triggered attraction.
The researchers concluded that Androstadienone could be a pheromone which
influences mating behaviour in humans.