Friendship/Science
Science Says You’re A Nose Picker
It’s true. We all do it.
Erin King is the author of the book “How To Be Wise AF: 30-Day Guided Journal For Women” and other wellness, gratitude, and wellbeing resources.
Have you ever met someone and just “clicked”? There was just something you liked about them that you couldn’t quite put your finger on.
Well, maybe what you like about them comes from something you can’t quite put your finger “in,” and no, that wasn’t a typo because researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science have discovered something interesting about how we make fast friends.
It has to do with following your nose.
This makes sense when you think about it because the research about smell and other relationships is already out there.
Not only can mothers identify their newborn babies by smell, but introducing a hospital robe to a baby with its mother’s scent or even another mother’s will subdue crying in newborns. The robe with its own mother’s scent will also increase “mouthing.”
It’s also widely known that pheromones play a part in falling in love but did you know that there have been studies linking the weakening of a relationship to the level of revulsion toward a partner’s B.O.
And that’s not all…
The “sweaty t-shirt study” done in the 1990s showed that women, when given the shirts of men who were not wearing deodorant over three nights, liked the ones from men with the most different genetic makeup best and rejected the ones with the most similar.
So to recap that study: One, the ladies weren’t repulsed by the B.O., and two, they chose the mate who brought the most to the table genetically, which they could somehow deduce just from their armpit smell.
So maybe if that love interest puts you in the friend zone, it’s not your fault. Your smell might be what’s holding you back.
The data does indicate that smell allows us to analyze the people around us right from birth, and we seem particularly good at instinctually disseminating what will help us survive.
Interesting eh?
It’s also been scientifically observed that humans are not only constantly (albeit subconsciously) sniffing ourselves (think Mary Katherine Gallagher — Molly Shannon — the famous armpit sniffer on SNL), but we also sniff other people.
Admit it. You’ve met at least one person in your life that you love or hate the smell of and that like or dislike has influenced how you interact with them.
The good news is you’re not weird. It’s science!
Because apparently, we “nose pick” (although “nose choose” might sound a little more acceptable) our friends.
In fact, we subconsciously prefer people who smell like us.
Since it’s already known that people tend to become friends with people who look similar to themselves, have similar backgrounds, values, and even brain activity, researchers wanted to know what role smell might play in this bonding experience.
They reasoned that since people already gravitate towards people like themselves, this preference might also carry over into the subliminal appeal of a similar smell.
They found pairs of friends (nonromantic, same-sex friends) that had formed quickly after not knowing each other for very long (called “click” friends, meaning they just “clicked”) and collected and tested samples of their body odor.
In one test, they gave the samples of the “click” friends B.O. and samplings of random pairs of people to smell. People found that the “click” friends’ body odor smelled more similar.
Then they gave the samples over to an electronic “nose,” which evaluated the chemical makeup of the B.O., and the result was the same.
The friends were more similar than the random pairs.
The experiment continued by taking groups of random people and seeing which group members became “click” friends. They took these groups and set up random pairs of people to do nonverbal social activities.
They asked the people to rate each other on how much they “liked” the other person and how likely they would be to become friends.
They then used the eNose to rate the smells of the people.
Here’s the interesting thing, the people with the best chemistry, meaning the people who smelled the most similar, were more likely to have a positive reaction.
The eNose alone was able to predict the friendships with 71% accuracy!
It seems that body odor is more important than you think, even when determining the outcome of social interaction between strangers.
How’s that for “nose picking” (your friends)?
So the next time you meet someone, and you just seem to “click,” give them a little sniff.
If you like what you smell, chances are you’ll become friends!
I hope you enjoyed this article!😊
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Erin King creates journals and resources for health, happiness, and well-being.
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