Pheromones: The Chemistry of Attraction

What attracts us to one another? Is it his or her looks? What if attraction really goes deeper than the eye of the beholder? Some people are physically attracted through their eyes, while others are attracted to someone though all their senses. We are all different, and we are all attracted to what we like. What determines our preferences? This article is going to explore the possibility that pheromones gently nudge us in our choices of choosing a mate. Where do we start? For the purpose of this article I will use the attraction of a man to a woman. Who might he be attracted to? At first sight, he might notice the overall shape of her body. His attraction to her may include the overall package. He may be drawn to her breasts, or her facial features first. Everything about her is pleasing to his senses. But what really attracts him to her.

Every day men and women come into contact with each other. Why is it only one person will catch his or her fancy? Maybe it is a specific pheromone that he is attracted to. Just like in the animal kingdom, every woman and every man releases pheromones, which are chemical substances of sexual attraction. Wikipedia defines the word pheromone as "...a chemical that triggers a natural behavioral response in another member of the same species."

Generally, when I think of pheromones, I think of ants and other insects. I also think of animals like dogs and cats. Ants and other insects communicate with each other through chemical language. When an ant discovers a lollipop that a child accidentally drops on the sidewalk, that ant immediately sends out a chemical signal to all its compatriots that food is available for the taking. In just a matter of a few minutes that lollipop will be covered in ants. The same thing happens when one ant comes across the carcass of a dead insect, such as a grasshopper. I am always in awe when I see how ants work together. How do they know what they are supposed to do? The ant that discovers the carcass immediately identifies this dead creature as food. It then sends out the pheromone that rings the dinner bell to all the other ants in the tribe or family of ants. In no time I noticed that the dead grasshopper is swarming with ants and is being carried away by the ants. The ants work collectively to carry this food parcel back to their nest.

In humans, it isn't so obvious, but we do have animal attraction too. We secrete pheromones from our skin. There are several points where pheromones are more strongly concentrated. I find it interesting that many women admit that they are attracted to the way a man smells when he sweats. I talked with a woman that said when her boyfriend had to go away on business trips she liked wearing his shirts to bed. She said that she wanted to breathe in his scent while he was gone.

To what degree are humans attracted to each other through their olfactory senses? It may only be slight, but just think about what we do when we are getting ready to go out on a date. Women apply perfume to their necks and their wrists on their pulse points. They may also apply a liberal amount of body spray. Men apply aftershave and cologne. Why might they be doing this? Is it only that it smells good-or is it that these perfumes and colognes help to carry the pheromone to the olfactory nerves of the other person? Not only do we want to look good, but we want to smell good for the person we are trying to impress. We want to leave a lasting impression-an impression that is like no other.

So what is it about sexual attraction? I've observed it on many levels. I have talked to many men and women and they all have different opinions of what attracts them. One man said that he is attracted to a woman that is not what he would call beautiful, but she has a sensuality about her that is most intriguing. He said he loves the way she smells, and admits he can't keep his fingers out of her hair.

I talked with another man that said he was first attracted by his girlfriend's overall appearance. He said he was physically attracted to her, but his relationship with her became more serious than any other relationship primarily because he felt they were made for each other. He said, "We have a special chemistry that I have found with no other woman". Although studies have not proved or disproved that pheromones are a key component of physical attraction, I believe there is evidence that on some level we do communicate chemically to each other.

I believe we use all our senses when we choose a mate or significant other. Some men and women are first drawn by a specific feature, like the shape and color of one's eyes, or the way one's mouth one's mouth turns up at the corners. One man said he was attracted to his wife's voice, rather than her looks. He said, "Her voice is what drew me in. I was drawn to her like the Pied Piper".

Are we, as humans, still dependent on chemical attraction? I believe to some degree we are. Women secrete pheromones from their eyelids, from around their lips, their ears, and neck and on down to the genitalia. Women recognize the musky scent of a man primarily from the sweat of his underarm, chest, back and pelvis. We are, in a sense, attracted to his sweat. The sweat on a clean body smells really good to those of us who are sensitive to the pheromones that are emitted there.
Melissa Kaplan said in her article, Pheromones in Humans: Myth or Reality? "... I would like to propose a new way of looking at pheromones, specifically in humans. With our highly developed intellect and rich compliment of emotions, ambitions, motivations and desires, it may not be profitable to look at human pheromones the same way we look at animal pheromones. Instead of looking for odorants that cause a definite physiological response, it may behoove us to look at how possible pheromones affect our attitudes. We are not machines that blindly fall into some stereotyped behaviour in response to an odor, but we may be machines that are nudged towards a type of behaviour by pheromones in concert with our higher intellect."
We may question what attracts us to a specific person and maybe we can't really identify what we are attracted to, but we just know we are attracted, and we love that person. I think that might be where chemistry plays a big role. Don't you?

Sources:
Wikipedia: definition of the word "pheromone"

Pheromones in Humans: Myth of Reality by Melissa Kaplan

http://www.anapsid.org/pheromones.html