An Analysis of the Topic of Pheromones in Academic Literature and Popular Media

The causes of human attraction have been a point of interest for both the public and academic researchers. The existence of “sex pheromones,” or human scents that attract sexual interest in members of the opposite sex especially captured the public imagination during the 1990s. However, a scholarly examination of the topic of pheromones reveals that the academic reality of this topic is often less glamorous than the public perception of pheromones. The contrast between the manners in which pheromones are discussed in popular literature and academic literature is especially apparent in the works of Knaapila et al. (2012) and Furlow (1996), whose works are respectively featured in the publications Archives of Sexual Behavior and Psychology Today. As a comparison between the two articles on pheromones demonstrates, while non-academic research can provide entertaining insight on modern academic topics, the entertainment value comes at the expense of in-depth research that carefully contributes to the body of knowledge on the topic of human pheromones.

Pheromones in Academic Literature

In the article “Pleasantness of the Odor of Androstenone as a Function of Sexual Intercourse Experience in Women and Men,” researchers Knaapila et al. (2012) study the impact that the pheromone androstenone and other forms of body odor have on the sexual experience of women. According to a review of the literature, previous investigation on the role of human pheromones as sex stimulants failed to identify specific sex pheromones that would act as ansexual attractant in humans. As the focus of their study, the researchers pose the following question: “Could an odor (conditioned stimulus) that is perceived during sexual intercourse gain hedonic value from the intercourse experience… through associative learning?” (Knaapila et al., 2012, p. 1404). The researchers present the hypothesis that andorstenone would be more likely to be encountered during close physical contacts and would thus act as a stimulant that increased the pleasantness of odor through a natural conditioning process.

The test their hypothesis, the researchers conducted a study involving 397 randomly sampled young adults between the ages of 21 and 24 years of age. The researchers asked the study participants to rate the pleasantness of body-related and control odorants on a 9-point scale, with the highest mark designating that the participant found the odor to be extremely pleasant. Through statistical analysis of the survey results, the researchers determined that the odor of androstenone was not detected by 23 percent of the women and 24 percent of the men (Knaapila et al., 2012, p. 1404). Yet, of those who were able to detect the odor of adrostenone, women were more likely than men to rate the odor as intense (Knaapila et al., 2012, p. 1405). Further, the researchers determined that women who had previously been sexually active were more likely to rate the odor as pleasant than women who had never had sexual intercourse (Knaapila et al., 2012, p. 1405). Yet, in men, the ratings of androstenone were not associated with their sexual experience and both experienced and un-experienced men provided a low pleasantness ranking for the hormone (Knaapila et al., 2012, p. 1406). Thus, the research determined that women were more responsive to androstenone than men.

As the researchers assess, their study confirmed their hypothesis that natural conditioning increased the pleasantness of androstenone. First, the study confirmed that androstenone was recognizable to a sizeable number of human beings. Second, the study determined through the disparate responses of women with and without the memory of sexual experience that the positive reception of androstenone was likely a conditioned response. Thus, the research suggests that associative learning might determine how human pheromones work in inducing sexual attraction in human beings.

Pheromones in Popular Media

In the popular magazine Psychology Today, author Furlow (1996) also addressed the topic of pheromones in his article “The Smell of Love.” In his article, Furlow attempts to provide an overview of the progress of pheromone research at the time of his writing. According to his assertions, pheromone research has been traditionally undervalued by scientists, yet has recently attracted the interest of researchers. As Furlow highlighted, scientists originally dismissed the importance of the olfactory senses to sexual attraction because it was believed that humans relied upon the sense of smell less frequently than other species of animals such as sharks (Furlow, 1996, p. 40). However, citing the researchers Barbara Sommerville and David Gee of the University of Leeds in England, he determines that recent evidence confirms that scent has a broad range of effects on humans, such as regulating blood pressure and altering mood (Furlow, 1996, p. 42). These discoveries increase the interest of researchers and professionals in the emerging aromatherapy industry to pinpoint the scents that contribute to sexual attraction.

The article provides an overview of the recent research findings that pertained to the topic of scent-based sexual attraction. As the author noted, because the sweat glands fail to produce significant odor in healthy individuals, it is likely that the apocrine gland is the source of scents that impact social interactions (Furlow, 1996, p. 42). Furlow also discusses the potentials of andosterone as a sexual stimulant. As he notes, men secrete more andosterone than women, and thus are less able to detect its scent (Furlow, 1996, p. 42). Yet, he reported that in a 1986 National Georgraphic Society World Smell Survey, most participants found pure human androsterone to be an unpleasant smell (Furlow, 1996, p. 42). As the article determines, while scientists have examined sweat, urine, breath, skin oils, and a variety of other secretions, they are still attempting to identify the scent that contributes primarily to sexual attraction in humans.

Critique

Both Knaapila et al. and Furlow address an educated audience, which impacts the content of their articles. Knaapila et al. present research that will be read by students and scholars in their field. In anticipation of the expectations of their audience, Knaapila et al. provide a thorough literature review that addresses past scholarship on the subject. They also use precise technical terminology on the subject that is appropriate to their fields in biomedicine and the social sciences. Similarly, while Furlow is writing for a popular publication, he is also addressing an educated audience. Though his readers might not be experts in the field of psychology or biology, he also appeals to academic sources and research to support the claims that he makes in the article. Thus, both articles contain scholarly materials that examine the impact and implications of pheromones on human sexuality.

Yet, while both authors possess cater to educated audiences, there are key differences between the articles. First, because Furlow is writing for a general audience, his article is focused on entertaining his reader. The style of his writing is less formal, and Furlow primarily described the topic of pheromones in a manner that is engaging and compelling to the reader. Also, because his audience does not specialize in research, he takes greater care to provide the historical background of the subject and avoid using specialized terminology that might confuse the reader. Additionally, to thoroughly engage the reader, Furlow discusses several possible sources for pheromones in the human body and provides a justification for

In contrast, Knaapila et al. provide focused research that examines a single aspect of the topic of pheromones. They focus upon a single androgen and develop an experiment that evaluates the impact of this androgen on human attraction. Further, while Furlow interviews scientists and obtains the opinions of researchers in his article, Knaapila et al. only draw upon the published findings of previous researchers to support the foundation for their research. They also only consider research that will pertain to their narrowly selected topic of androstenone.

Both Knaapila et al. and Furlow provide useful methods of presenting information. Furlow’s article is effective in presenting relevant information on pheromones for a general audience that lacks technical expertise in biomedical research. Further, readers that are less knowledgeable about methodology would benefit from Furlow’s summary of other studies because he presents the important details of their studies without including detailed methodological notes. Additionally, Furlow assesses a wide range of pheromone sources, which enables the reader to obtain a broad understanding of the topic.

However, Knaapila et al. provide an approach to evaluating the effect of pheromones that is critical in an academic environment. They provide a literature review that enables readers to trace previous research on their topic. Further, the carefully document the methods used in their research so that their experiment could be duplicated by other researchers. The precise focus of Knaapila et al.’s research also ensures that the claims made in their findings are not exaggerated or understated. The measures taken to ensure the validity of the research demonstrate why professors require students to use papers from peer-reviewed sources in their writing. Further, because the data in these sources are more reliable, students can come to sounder conclusions on topics of sexuality from formally studying the matter instead of relying on popular news sources.

Conclusion

This analysis revealed the different approaches that popular and academic publications take in presenting information on topics of human sexuality. In the research published by Knaapila et al., the authors address the topic of human pheromones and their role in sexual attraction by conducting original research that supports a hypothesis. The main drawback of the Knaapila et al. article is that it would fail to capture the attention of the average reader. Because the article relies on technical language and a focused topic, even readers who are generally interested in the subject of pheromones might have difficulty contextualizing the information in the article and finding applications for the information in their daily lives.

However, the research value of the Knaapila et al. article makes it valuable for students and scholars who wish to gain an understanding of how pheromones work. Through exploring how associative conditioning influences the human response to pheromones, the researchers dispel the popular notion that pheromones are magical substances that allow individuals to automatically capture a mate. Rather, it is conditioning that strengthens the impact of pheromones on individuals. By carefully evaluating previous literature on the topic and documenting their methodology, the researchers provide information on the subject that the reader can verify and duplicate through their own experiments. Thus, the Knaapila et al. article demonstrates the benefits of using peer-reviewed research to obtain credible information on matters pertaining to human sexuality.

While Furlow also cites studies on pheromones and appeals to scholars, entertainment is a primary goal of his article. As a result, Furlow is less concerned with the details of research and more concerned with providing interesting findings on the topic of pheromones that will engage the reader. Also, because Furlow explores a variety of pheromone sources, his article is unable to provide focus that contributes to scholarship in this topic. While Knaapila et al. were able to verify the role of androstenone in human attraction, Furlow’s article merely summarizes various studies that have already been conducted by other researchers. Thus, it is necessary to consult with academic research to gain new insight on a topic that extends beyond mere summary of previous research.  

References

Furlow, F. B. (1996, Mar). The smell of love. Psychology Today, 29, 38-45.

Knaapila, A., Tuorila, H., Vuoksimaa, E., Keskitalo-vuokko, K., Rose, R. J., Kaprio, J., & Silventoinen, K. (2012). Pleasantness of the odor of androstenone as a function of sexual intercourse experience in women and men. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41(6), 1403-8. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10508-011-9804-7