Wedekind (pheromones)

Define pheromones

Substance produced and released by an animal into the environment, affecting the behavior/physiology of other of its species. Primar pheromones cause slow, long-term physiological changes. signaling pheromone’s produces rapid behavioral effects.

Define MHC

A group of genes that produce molecules that enable the immune system to recognize pathogens.

Aim of study

To determine whether one’s MHC would affect mate choice

Participants

49 female and 44 male students from the university of Bern, Switzerland. Every participant was “typed” for their MHC.

Procedure

• The men were asked to wear a T-shirt for two nights and keep it in an open plastic bag in the day. They were given perfume free detergent to wash clothes/bedclothes, and perfume free soap for showering.

• They were asked to refrain from deodorant/perfumes, smoking or drinking alcohol, spicy food and to not engage in sexual activities.

• Two days later, the woman were asked to rank the smell of the seven shirts (each box with the “smelling hole”)

• The woman were tested in the second week after beginning menstruation, they appeared to be more older sensitive at that time.

• The woman prepared for the experiment using nasal sprays for 2 weeks before the experiment to eliminate excessive nasal mucus or sickness.

• Three of the boxes contained the shirts from men with similar MHC to the women’s, three contain shirts of dissimilar MHC, and one contained an unworn shirt for a control.

• Each woman alone rated the T-shirt orders from a scale of one to 10 for pleasantness and sexiness.

Results

The woman scored more pleasant for men with dissimilar MHC to their own. This difference in oder assessment was reversed when the woman were given oral contraceptives. This suggests that MHC may influence human mating choices.

Evaluation

Strength= reliability (successfully replicated by Jacob at all/Yamazaki at all), application (links to evolutionary argument), ethical (consent and debriefing obtained)

Weakness= generalizability (small sample size+ culture bias)