Can We Sniff Out Available Suitors? New Study Says So

Nowadays, finding a romantic partner out and about in the real world can be a daunting task. With the rise of dating apps, it's become less acceptable to go up to a stranger in public and ask for their number. On the occasions when you do whip up enough courage to do so, you can't know whether they are even single in the first place. A recent study seems to suggest that humans may have been holding onto a superpower all this time which could help with this very issue, and it's all down to our noses. According to them, people may have the ability to sniff out potential suitors. Here's what we know so far...

The science of human scent has been all the rage recently, with numerous studies desperate to understand its role in the dating world. A recent study in 2022 discovered a positive association between those who tend to smell another person's natural scent and their sexual desires. Other studies have also revealed that men are most attracted to women at their most fertile stage of menstruation. On a similar note, there's also evidence to suggest that ovulating women are more drawn to masculine-appearing men.

A 2010 study revealed that men's testosterone levels would increase when they are single rather than in a relationship. Initial research suggests that this, in turn, will alter the man's scent, sending a signal to women around them that potentially signals better fitness and high sexual availability. "From an evolutionary perspective, it may be advantageous for women to be able to detect the chemosignals that connote coupledom and ultimately avoid courting partnered males (especially with offspring) due to the relatively reduced resources they can offer," the authors of the study concluded. Based on this concept, a 2019 Australian study put this to the test, asking women to rate the scent of a group of single and unavailable men. Overall, they found the women more attracted to the single men's smell, the ones they also had unknowingly deemed more attractive.

Crushing all these scientific theories is the hypothesis that the coupled-up male smell is more to do with improved hygiene and health than anything else. Studies suggest that even a man's diet can alter their body odor, which is highly likely to differ based on their relationship status. Rather than testosterone levels, what women are actually smelling is their bachelor lifestyle.