Human pheromones facts

Humans and the Sense of Smell

Even though we might not be aware of this all the time, smell is one of our most important senses, highly connected with many behavioral patterns and emotions we are prone to. Namely, a single smell of a new washing detergent you have bought may remind you of the same one your grandmother has used, bringing back all the memories of joy and childhood happiness. However at the same time, smell of fire burning may force you to relive the near-death experience you might have had earlier etc. Basically, the smells we are capable of noticing actively influence us greatly. Yet, amazingly, there are smells which we cannot sense consciously, while still being quite influenced by them. These smells are called pheromones and are usually connected with sexual attraction and many other occasions related to this aspect of human existence.

We have noticed pheromones in animals since long time ago. They use them to attract each other, for mating purposes and many other things. What is more, many insects on the higher degree of the food chain use pheromones of their pray to attract them and thereby ambush them. All the importance of pheromones has therefore made us think about ones of our own. Do these exist? And if these do exist, how can pheromones affect us?

Humans and Their Pheromones

This area of human biology and psychology is still under research and a lot of things about pheromones are still left unknown. Still, we know that the notion of being sexy and attractive is highly connected to pheromones. Namely, both men and women are capable of detecting the smell of one another, even though this process is not done on a conscious level, and get attracted sexually due to the influence of some of these smells.

Speaking of homosexual preferences and the choices of these people, certain researches have shown that, for example, homosexual males pick up on the same male pheromones as heterosexual women do. Also, while a woman is ovulating, she emits this through a specific scent, which other males may notice and desire sexual intercourse for “mysterious” reasons.

Finally, since we desire to make money out of every single thing, there were theories that pheromones can be synthetically made and used for attracting other people. However, spraying something onto you may be less efficient than, let's say, letting your natural scent overwhelm the senses of your desired individual.