A recent study indicates that women can quickly assess their liking for someone purely based on their olfactory cues.
When meeting someone you’ve been talking to online for the first time, several factors can help you decide if you like that person.
Firstly, does the individual resemble their online photos? It’s quite easy to fall victim to catfishing, so confirming the identity of your date is essential.
Secondly, how do they present themselves? This includes their choice of clothing and even their fragrance.
This concept can extend to potential friendships as well, according to research that suggests women can rapidly form opinions about others based on their smell.
Cornell University in New York carried out the research, which was published in Scientific Reports.
The researchers observed the reactions of 40 women, aged 18 to 30, participating in an experiment called ‘speed-friending’.
Participants wore the same t-shirt for 12 hours and engaged in an unusual activity of smelling each other’s scent at the start of the study.
Following this, the women participated in ten separate four-minute conversations and were later asked to smell and evaluate the t-shirts.
The findings indicated that initial judgments about people were influenced by the scent of the t-shirt from 12 hours earlier.
Vivian Zayas, a co-author of the study from Cornell University, noted: “People take a lot in when they’re meeting face to face. But scent — which people are registering at some level, though probably not consciously — forecasts whether you end up liking this person.”
The study also revealed that women’s impressions of individuals could evolve after interacting with those who initially gave a negative olfactory impression.
Jessica Gaby, the study’s first author, commented: “It’s your dietary choices. Are you a cat person or dog person? What laundry detergent do you use? All these judgments come together.”
She continued, “It makes sense to me that the way you smell impacts the way I judge you. But I was most surprised by the learning, by the shift in the second set of readings—one interaction and you’re like, hmmm, maybe not. One in-person interaction with a person can change the way you perceive their body odor.”
Thus, it’s advisable to pay attention to fragrances the next time you’re meeting someone new.