Abstract Although humans' sense of smell is relatively diminished compared to other species, olfaction is still a central sensory modality through which people evaluate both potential threats and prospective romantic partners. Despite olfaction's role in interpersonal relationships and disease avoidant responses, however, it remains unknown whether variation in olfactory acuity is associated with disease- and mating-relevant psychological constructs and behaviors. In the current exploratory study, we examined the relationships between olfactory acuity, disgust sensitivity, and mating strategies in a sample of undergraduate students (N = 162) at a university in the Southern United States using an extended assessment of olfactory acuity (measuring olfactory threshold, discrimination, and identification). Results revealed that people with greater discrimination acuity were higher in dispositional sexual disgust, but not pathogen or moral disgust. People with greater discrimination acuity were also less inclined towards short-term mating. Further, sexual disgust mediated the relationship between discrimination acuity and short-term mating orientation. These results provide further evidence for the importance of olfaction and olfaction-related disgust in close relationships.

中文翻译：

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调查嗅觉敏锐度、厌恶和交配策略之间的关系

摘要 尽管与其他物种相比，人类的嗅觉相对减弱，但嗅觉仍然是人们评估潜在威胁和潜在浪漫伴侣的主要感官方式。尽管嗅觉在人际关系和疾病回避反应中发挥作用，但是，嗅觉敏锐度的变化是否与疾病和交配相关的心理结构和行为有关仍然未知。在当前的探索性研究中，我们使用嗅觉的扩展评估（测量嗅觉阈值）检查了美国南部一所大学的本科生（N = 162）样本中嗅觉敏锐度、厌恶敏感性和交配策略之间的关系、歧视和识别）。结果显示，具有较高歧视敏锐度的人具有更高的性厌恶感，但不是病原体或道德厌恶。具有较高歧视敏锐度的人也不太倾向于短期交配。此外，性厌恶介导了歧视敏锐度和短期交配倾向之间的关系。这些结果为嗅觉和嗅觉相关厌恶在亲密关系中的重要性提供了进一步的证据。