A growing body of evidence suggests that men may perceive women’s bodily odour to be more attractive during the high-fertility ovulatory phase than during other phases in the menstrual cycle. In particular, women’s bodily odour may influence important aspects of male mating behaviour, but the precise nature of this phenomena remains to be elucidated. Twenty-six men and five women participated in the study. Each woman wore a cotton T-shirt during the night for 3 days during the ovulatory phase, after which the regions of the T-shirt that had been in contact with the woman’s chest, armpits, and back, were cut out of the garment. We evaluated the changes in testosterone and cortisol levels in the saliva of men who smelled these cloth pieces. The odour emitted from the backs of women in the ovulatory phase was found to increase testosterone secretion in men, whereas the odour emitted from the chests of women in the ovulatory phase reduced cortisol secretion in men. These results suggest that the odour of specific body parts of women modulate unconscious physiological reactions in men.

越来越多的证据表明，在高生育力排卵期，男人可能认为女性的体味比月经周期的其他阶段更具吸引力。特别是女性的身体气味可能会影响男性交配行为的重要方面，但是这种现象的确切性质仍有待阐明。26名男性和5名女性参加了这项研究。每个女性在排卵期的三天晚上都穿着棉质T恤，然后将T恤与女性胸部，腋窝和背部接触的区域切掉。我们评估了闻过这些布块的男性唾液中睾丸激素和皮质醇水平的变化。发现在排卵期从女性背部散发的气味增加了男性的睾丸激素分泌，而在排卵期从女性胸部散发的气味减少了男性的皮质醇分泌。这些结果表明，女性特定身体部位的气味会调节男性的无意识生理反应。