PassingPsych

Pheromones are chemical substances produced and released into the environment by an animal affecting the behaviour or physiology of others of its species. An example of a Pheromone is a releaser pheromone, these elicit an immediate response, and the response is rapid and reliable. They are usually linked to sexual attraction. In this essay, I will give a detailed account including reasons and/or causes for the effect of pheromones on behaviour using the supporting study of Culture, Friedman and McCoy (C, F+M).

C, F +M aimed to investigate if a synthesised human pheromone could increase the sociosexual behaviour (SSB) of men. To investigate, a field experiment consisting of heterosexual men between the ages of 25 and 42 years old. They were in good health and had a regular appearance. Participants were asked to use their regular after-shave lotion after every shave (control variable, + lotion absorbed by skin will have a longer lasting effect.) for the duration of the sturdy. Participants were also given a behavioural calendar that they had to fill out daily, indicating the incidence of the behaviours on that day (questionnaire): petting, affection and/or kissing, sleeping next to a  romantic partner, sexual intercourse, informal dates, formal dates, and masturbation. There was a baseline period of 2 weeks. After the baseline, a technician added either ethanol or a synthesised pheromone with ethanol to their aftershave lotion (independent group design). Ethanol was used as a masking agent to compensate for the possible smell of the pheromone(control variable).  This was followed by a further 6 weeks of using the aftershave regularly and filling out the behavioural calendar. Results showed that compared to the control group, a larger number of participants in the pheromone group showed an increase over the baseline in the 1st 4 behaviours. Differences were not observed in the last 2 behaviours. Researchers concluded that the authentic human pheromone increased the attractiveness of men to women.

C, F+M support the potential role of AND (pheromone)  in the sociosexual behaviours of men. This is seen as those exposed to AND increased in 4/6  social sexual behaviours. This is important as AND is released into the environment from the men and their aftershave lotion would be detected by women leading to attraction of men to women. However, AND may potentially not influence (SSB) as masturbation and formal dates stayed the same.