Sex pheromones do not exist

New evidence that sex pheromones do not exist

Two things that human and animal sex have in common are innate sexual instincts and pheromones, which make one partner irresistible to the other. However, very soon it may turn out that there is only one unifying factor since the existence of sex pheromones in humans is increasingly being questioned.

The question of whether sexual attraction between people is based on the influence of pheromones has been debated for decades. A new study confirms the notion that they don’t really exist, or at least not in the way they’re said to exist.

In recent years, the “hunt for human sex pheromones” has narrowed down to 2 types of chemical compounds – androstadienone (found in male sweat and seminal fluid) and estratetraenol (excreted in the urine of women). The role of these compounds in inciting the sexual spark has not yet been confirmed, but in recent years the perfume industry has relied on them as the main aromatic ingredient in products aimed at arousing sexual interest in the opposite sex.

How successful this move is is still debatable, because it’s hard to believe that sex drive in humans can only be associated with something as ethereal as a scent that only affects the sense of smell.

Evidence along these lines also comes from a new Australian study of 100 healthy, heterosexual, and sexually active men and women. Scientists have found that even at more concentrated than natural doses, exposure to the smell of pheromones does not directly affect human behavior, including sexual aspects. As an independent factor, the release of even large doses from the so-called. pheromones cannot make one person more sexually attractive in the eyes of another.

It turns out that a person’s sexual desire is far from being associated with pheromones and specific aromas, but is formed on the basis of other factors.

The results of one study cannot be taken as sufficiently indicative, but, according to scientists, it is this study that seriously undermines the position of pheromones as a factor in human sexual life. Or at least the positions of substances that have hitherto been taken as an example of sex pheromones.

Either the role of pheromones is greatly overestimated, or scientists are still looking for them where they actually do not exist. Research is ongoing. Whatever they lead to, one thing is certain – the results will change only the theoretical attitude to sex, the practical one will not change. Because the leading role of the sexual instinct is beyond doubt. At least for now.