The effect of two odorous compounds on performance in an assessment-of-people test

Abstract (1) The effect of exposing men and women to the presence of two pheromonal preparations on an assessment-of-people test is described. (2) Surgical face masks, previously impregnated with androstenol (5α-16-androsten-3α-ol) or with an aliphatic acid mixture found in vaginal secretions of primates, were worn by subjects whose performance on the tests was compared with that of control subjects with masks that were not treated. (3) The results show that the volatile substances act to modify judgements and that they also act differently on males and females. (4) The effect of the substances is almost entirely confined to the assessments that women make of the men in the test and they are more marked when favourable rather than unfavourable qualities are assessed. (5) The two substances act differently, suggesting that it is a property of the substances rather than a response to odour as such. (6) Further, the substances interact with the qualities attributed to the test characters to alter the assessments. (7) The study suggests that pheromones interact with cognitive and affective responses elicited by, and dependent on, the people assessed and their sex.

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