Smell your partner's pits to tell how they're feeling.

A study from the Rice University in Houston has shown that couples can read each other's emotional states by the way their armpits smell. I guess it's something like the way dogs like to go around sniffing each other's buts or something.

Armpit smell helps soul mates tell emotions

As a romantic relationship builds over years, people learn to detect hidden clues about their partner’s emotional state from how they smell, a new study says.

Chen and her colleagues studied 20 heterosexual couples, who had been living together for between one and seven years. Volunteers were shown videos provoking an emotional response – feelings of happiness, fear or sexual arousal – or neutral videos, while an armpit pad collected their sweat.

Then, participants sniffed the pads, stored in glass bottles to preserve the odor, and were asked to pinpoint an “emotional” smell among neutral ones. Men were given women’s pads and vice-versa, because previous studies showed that smelling emotions works better with the opposite sex, reports Science News magazine.

Volunteers had been able correctly to detect their partners’ emotions two thirds of the time, as compared to only half for strangers, and couples with the longest relationships showed better results.

Read more: RT

I don't know about you but, I don't think they could pay me enough to participate in a study like that.


"We want you to sniff pads soaked in armpit sweat."

I have to admit it is interesting. But ack. I think I will stick to asking how someone is, thanks.

There is only one problem with this, you can alter the way your body smells by in type and quantity of food you intake.

Like the stereotypical "Indian Curry" that you would have from men who put alot of curry in their food for example.

There are so many chemicals in foods now that that test is bias in my opinion. People a hundred years ago did not smell nearly as bad as we do now because there weren't as many adverse chemicals added to their food that altered their body's chemistry. That is also why we have so many more fragrances now that in the past.

If I really wanted to know how my friend was feeling I wouldn't walk up and stick my nose in their pit like a dog greets a new person, I could simply look on their face to see if they are pissed, tired, happy or annoyed.

Facial expressions rule over buring my face in a sweaty pit anyday.

Gross.

King

Originally posted by FortAnthem
A study from the Rice University in Houston has shown that couples can read each other's emotional states by the way their armpits smell.

Indeed, couples could do that. Or (and this might be a bit 'out there') they could use the voicebox they have evolved over thousands of years and just ask each other how they feel

Maybe this theory could explain why the gentleman who was caught sniffing the bike seats at my local gym did it. Nothing to do with him being a pervert or anything, he just wanted to check on the womens emotional states. So misunderstood :shk:

It is experiments like this that sustain my love for science, keep throwing money at them is what I say

I just read this post to my wife. Her response was "I need to put on deodorant now." Maybe she's got something to hide from me.

It does make sense though, most other animals have similar things they can do with smells. I can usually tell if my wife is going to be depressed or happy depending on her scent when she comes in from work. Pretty neat stuff.

I summise this is all some subtle ploy by women to encourage us men to 'become more attuned to their emotional states, needs and wants'...all wrapped up in the running-gag of tricking us to take a whiff of their armpits...

reply to post by FortAnthem


I believe this. While I don't smell my husbands armpits, he has MS, and on the days he is going to have a seizure, his odor, all over, seems to change somehow. It's not b.o. but he starts smelling more acidic, if that makes any sense.

People don't need to smell me, either, to know how my mood is. My eyes change color depending on how I'm feeling. usually they look more green than anything, but I've had a headache all day, and they look very goldish brown right now.

Even though this study is sort of offensive, I find it interesting how we could be using our senses in more ways than we do.

Originally posted by LiveForever8

Originally posted by FortAnthem
A study from the Rice University in Houston has shown that couples can read each other's emotional states by the way their armpits smell.

Indeed, couples could do that. Or (and this might be a bit 'out there') they could use the voicebox they have evolved over thousands of years and just ask each other how they feel

Hmm..... well you could ask, but in the case of men you might be lucky to get a grunt in reply and a woman will probably just snap 'nothing' if you ask what's wrong.

Pongy armpits might be just the thing to bridge the gap between the sexes

Interesting study - shows how much of our brain regarding the senses that we ae not even aware of using. I know that when I don't feel emotionally up to par various scents in the air bother me more than when I am happy. Just the same = I will stick to facial expressions and body language - they speak volumns!

reply to post by FortAnthem

Indonesian men have a thing about womens' arm-pits...
...women have to keep them covered because they find it a 'turn-on'...
...I wonder if there is a connection.

I have since studied the phenomena personally (limited sample of one)...
...and while I can appreciate the possibilities...
...I obviously don't fully appreciate the attraction...
...oh well each one to his/her own fetish I guess.

This happens to be true, but it is not just coming from the underarms. It is called pheromones.

Pheromone:

is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species.

Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting outside the body of the secreting individual to impact the behavior of the receiving individual.

There are alarm pheromones, food trail pheromones, sex pheromones, and many others that affect behavior or physiology.

en.wikipedia.org...

pax

This topic gave me a case of the giggles!

I am one of those weirdos who SHHHH likes to smell my partners' armpits. I really do and have had this ummm desire since I was a teen. Watch out!!

Thank-you for the laugh!

eeeewwwwwwwwww.
YUCK!

Not gonna do it. No one can make me!

People going eww & yuck are clearly not ready to live in a scientifically based world.

As for food, the chemistry of food affects chemistry & thereby mental state.

Why do people think we are plastic automatons?
Is that really what you want to be?

Corporate clone electric robot slaves?

Often when i smell strongly 'bad' i actually feel good.
I don't know how much of that is internal state reflected externally or if external chemistry may have some sort of effects by itself.

I suspect that young people going through puberty tend to smell strongly, for the good & bad of it.

But i think we should persist in preformed and baseless attitudes & opinions & not bother with uncomfortable facts.

Superstition is so much more useful than science.
The dark ages were so much better than today.

I'm sure this is very true.
I have a very sensitive nose to odors and I can smell different people from more than a few feet away, (not always a good thing!!!) but I notice myself as well when certain moods have different reactions.

We have killed or dulled our natural senses with chemicals and perfumes.

Personally I like the soap and mild perfume over underarm but the fact still remains. Its human nature.

I believe we are attracted to others based on smell as well. Natural smells. If you've ever felt this you know what I mean. Its hard to describe but it can lure you in sort of way. Not the stinky odors silly!

Anyways, unique subject.

reply to post by slank


On the contrary! I am not superstitious at all, except for the lucky stuff , just stayin positive. Not religious either! I just have a overly sensitive nose, and gag easily.

I don't like perfumes or aftershave either, unless it is very light. People who wear the stuff usually put on way too much.

Science is the only way civilization can move in a forward direction, it just takes very brave noses for some of the studies that get done.



[edit on 1-6-2010 by snowspirit]

[edit on 1-6-2010 by snowspirit]

Originally posted by Kingalbrect79
There is only one problem with this, you can alter the way your body smells by in type and quantity of food you intake.

Like the stereotypical "Indian Curry" that you would have from men who put alot of curry in their food for example.

There are so many chemicals in foods now that that test is bias in my opinion. People a hundred years ago did not smell nearly as bad as we do now because there weren't as many adverse chemicals added to their food that altered their body's chemistry. That is also why we have so many more fragrances now that in the past.

If I really wanted to know how my friend was feeling I wouldn't walk up and stick my nose in their pit like a dog greets a new person, I could simply look on their face to see if they are pissed, tired, happy or annoyed.

Facial expressions rule over buring my face in a sweaty pit anyday.

Gross.

King

I would think that most people from various locations stick to relatively similar diets... wouldn't you think?

Or do Ethiopians trick their partners every month by digesting Sushi or curry?

Also, do people who live 100 years ago time travel into the future to eat food that exists now?

I'm not too sure, but it doesn't seem like you are viewing the results of this study in the same context that they were observed.

I wouldn't be so sure that you understand how these studies work...

I completely understand how the studies work. In fact I just finished my college course on statistics that required us to study, well, studies. It sucked and I'm glad it's over but my point still stands.

There are chemicals in the foods we digest that CAN alter the way our bodies smell.

If you eat too many plates of Garlic Bread in the week you will begin to perspirate a garlic smell, I'm not saying that the study is false or that one particular set of people/race smell a certain way; I am simply stating that there are other factors that should be contemplated when taking these tests into consideration.

I don't have any links on this particular point right now, but I have seen documentaries where it was mentioned that in remote tribes, americans who visited "smelled" when compared to the local tribe. Their diet consisted mainly of un-altered meat and produce. They don't even have underwear, you think they would have deodorant for the study?

I'm just saying it's a possibility that can't be denied and should be considered part of the study.

King

Originally posted by Kingalbrect79
I completely understand how the studies work. In fact I just finished my college course on statistics that required us to study, well, studies. It sucked and I'm glad it's over but my point still stands.

There are chemicals in the foods we digest that CAN alter the way our bodies smell.

If you eat too many plates of Garlic Bread in the week you will begin to perspirate a garlic smell, I'm not saying that the study is false or that one particular set of people/race smell a certain way; I am simply stating that there are other factors that should be contemplated when taking these tests into consideration.

I don't have any links on this particular point right now, but I have seen documentaries where it was mentioned that in remote tribes, americans who visited "smelled" when compared to the local tribe. Their diet consisted mainly of un-altered meat and produce. They don't even have underwear, you think they would have deodorant for the study?

I'm just saying it's a possibility that can't be denied and should be considered part of the study.

King

Oh, you took one statistics class and now you're a scientist? Did you take physics I yet? If not, you better hurry up because as soon as you are done with that you'll be a Dr of the Theory of Everything.

No, you don't understand. Why do you keep talking about food and how it changes how you smell then? Why not talk about the effects of rubbing dog # under your arms? We can safely assume that a major part of this study didn't include everyone changing their diet to include a majority of mint, garlic, curry, or pineapple... or for that matter, adopting a different animal everyday and putting ketchup on it 3 times every hour while wearing a suit made of candy canes and a taffy hat.

This study suggests that humans excrete different ratios of chemicals in their sweat that when picked up by other humans - specifically those in relationships - and correlated with a specific emotional state. The humans who have been in relationships the longest appear to be most accustomed to correlating a "scent" with an emotion.

That's all. It's pretty specific and concentrated.

You can introduce all the cultures, foods, locations, deodorants and whatnot into the study that you want, but where do you honestly think you'll get with all of those variables?

Well, apparently unless you are right in all cases no one else can dare to suggest any sort of alternative information.

Since you think I have to be an expert to have an opinion then I will leave you alone in this thread. I have no desire to quabble with someone who attacks me based on an opinion, and surely not someone who questions my intelligence on an internet forum.

You can take your studies, your physics classes, your statistics classes and anything else that is supposedly made you the self proclaimed expert and keep it to yourself.

I do not wish to argue it further and I will not reply again simply based on the fact that you're a jerk.

Good day,

King