What’s in a scent? Apparently, a lot. The scent of a woman can give hints to her fertility. Our sense of smell can also help us find a genetically appropriate partner and help us communicate threats – the dentist can even smell your fear.
A study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior now suggests that those with a keener sense of smell enjoy sex more, and ladies, having a good sniffer probably means you even experience more orgasms.
Of 70 respondents, 42 women and 28 men deemed “young” and “healthy” were blindfolded and rated on their ability to smell differently scented “Sniffin’ Sticks”. They were then surveyed on questions relating to sexual desire, experience (such as how often they have an orgasm and how much they enjoy sex), and performance (like how often and for how long they had sex). Taking into account sexual orientation and relationship status, those with a heightened nose reported “higher pleasantness” and “enriched” sexual experience because, the researchers believe, they are more likely influenced by the act of sex and all the smells that come with it.
“The perception of body odors such as vaginal fluids, sperm, and sweat seems to enrich the sexual experience,” said the authors. On the other hand, they didn’t find a correlation between one’s olfactory abilities and their sexual desire and performance.
Smell cues can evoke sexual arousal through our hormones, thus a person’s olfaction can contribute to arousal and sexual behavior. As expected, there was a significant difference in olfactory sensitivity in women on birth control and those who were not, although they tried to control for this potential confounder. However, the researchers didn’t account for hormonal changes in the women’s menstrual cycle and how that might impact her sense of smell.
Besides the fact that it is a pretty small sample size, the researchers say they can’t rule out other factors that could impact a person’s sense of smell and their sexual behavior, which includes breathing problems, depression, and social insecurity. Additionally, olfactory impairments are often a symptom of other diseases, which could contribute to an impaired sex life. In a previous study, half of the people with an impaired sense of smell reported it having a negative impact on their sex life.
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