Women rely partly on smell when choosing friends

There are so many factors that can influence how we perceive others, which in turn can determine the people we choose as platonic friends or romantic mates. We certainly make snap judgments based on physical appearance, but scent can have a powerful influence, too. According to a new paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, two heterosexual women meeting for the first time rely partly on scent to judge whether they want to be friends with each other, deciding within minutes—practically at first whiff—whether there is friendship potential. Social olfactory research largely stems from evolutionary psychology, specifically the work of Swiss biologist Claus Wedekind in 1995. Subtle chemical signals from pheromones are known to play a role in attraction in many species. Scientists had already found evidence in fish and mice that the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes, which are critical for immune system function (and useful in determining tissue compatibility for trans ... Read full article.