Introduction

Olfactory cues are important in mating in many species, including humans. These odorants may be relevant because of their value as a cue to the reproductive fitness of a potential mate (Trivers 1972), but they could also be important as a signal of mate appropriateness in terms of sexual preference (Lübke and Pause 2015). One way to discriminate between these ideas is to examine whether the importance of olfaction in determining a mate is decreased in homosexual individuals, for whom selecting a mate is dissociated from the selection of a reproductive partner. The present research question asked whether the value of olfactory cues for attraction varies between homosexual and heterosexual groups.

Method

The present study examined odor importance in mating by presenting the Romantic Interest Survey (Herz and Inzlich 2002) to 453 individuals: 142 heterosexual women, 161 heterosexual men, and 150 gay men.

Results

Regression analysis indicated that heterosexual men valued the sense of smell when selecting a mate more than gay men did. In contrast, gay men valued the sound of a partner’s voice more than did heterosexual men. Heterosexual men and women did not differ by sex in terms of the value of olfaction; both men and women value olfactory aspects of a potential mate highly.

Conclusions

The higher value of olfactory cues to heterosexual individuals supports the idea that olfaction in mate selection may act as a cue to reproductive fitness, and indicates that olfactory information is not as valuable to gay men in mate selection.

Implications

These findings suggest that many people seem to be looking for similar attributes when searching for a potential romantic partner, and that olfaction is an important aspect of the process.

中文翻译：

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性偏好和嗅觉在伴侣选择中的自我报告作用

介绍

嗅觉线索对于包括人类在内的许多物种的交配都很重要。这些增香剂可能具有相关性，因为它们的价值可作为潜在配偶生殖适应性的线索（Trivers 1972），但它们也可能在性偏爱方面作为配偶适宜性的信号很重要（Lübkeand Pause 2015）。区分这些想法的一种方法是检查嗅觉在确定伴侣中的重要性是否在同性恋个体中降低，对于同性恋个体而言，选择伴侣与选择生殖伴侣无关。目前的研究问题是，嗅觉线索的吸引价值在同性恋和异性恋群体之间是否有所不同。

方法

本研究通过向453位个体（142位异性恋女性，161位异性恋男性和150位男同性恋者）进行浪漫兴趣调查（Herz和Inzlich，2002年）来检验交配过程中气味的重要性。

结果

回归分析表明，异性恋男人在选择伴侣时比男同伴更重视嗅觉。相反，男同性恋者比异性恋男人更重视伴侣的声音。异性恋男人和女人在嗅觉价值上没有性别差异。男人和女人都非常重视潜在伴侣的嗅觉方面。

结论

嗅觉提示对异性恋者的价值更高，支持以下观点：伴侣选择中的嗅觉可能会成为生殖适应的线索，并表明嗅觉信息对同性恋者在伴侣选择中的价值不大。

含义

这些发现表明，许多人在寻找潜在的浪漫伴侣时似乎正在寻找相似的属性，而嗅觉是该过程的重要方面。