Men without a sense of smell exhibit a strongly reduced number of sexual relationships, women exhibit reduced partnership security - a reanalysis of previously published data

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftKurzartikel (Letter) / Leserbrief mit OriginaldatenBeigetragenBegutachtung

Beitragende

Abstract

Olfactory function influences social behavior. For instance, olfaction seems to play a key role in mate choice and helps detecting emotions in other people. In a previous study, we showed that people who were born without a sense of smell exhibit enhanced social insecurity. Based on the comments to this article we decided to have a closer look to whether the absence of the sense of smell affects men and women differently. Under this focus questionnaire data of 32 patients, diagnosed with isolated congenital anosmia (10 men, 22 women) and 36 age-matched healthy controls (15 men, 21 women) was reanalyzed. In result, men and women without a sense of smell reported enhanced social insecurity, but with different consequences: Men who were born without a sense of smell exhibit a strongly reduced number of sexual relationships and women are affected such that they feel less secure about their partner. This emphasizes the importance of the sense of smell for intimate relationships.

Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)292-294
Seitenumfang3
FachzeitschriftBiological Psychology
Jahrgang92
Ausgabenummer2
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - Feb. 2013
Peer-Review-StatusJa

Externe IDs

researchoutputwizard legacy.publication#54208
Scopus 84871376014
PubMed 23178326
researchoutputwizard legacy.publication#55544
ORCID /0000-0001-9713-0183/work/146645186

Schlagworte

Schlagwörter

  • Adolescent, Adult, Case-Control Studies, Emotions, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Olfaction Disorders/complications, Sex Characteristics, Sexual Behavior, Sexual Dysfunctions, Psychological/etiology, Sexual Partners, Smell/physiology, Surveys and Questionnaires, Young Adult