Synthetic Copulin Does Not Affect Men’s Sexual Behavior

Abstract

Chemical communication plays an important role in the social interactions and mating behavior of diverse animal taxa; yet its role in humans remains equivocal. Using a randomized, placebo-controlled experiment involving 243 male participants, we test whether exposure to synthetic copulin -a mixture of volatile fatty acids secreted vaginally in primates, increases 1) men's sexual motivation using an incentivized behavioral task, 2) self-reported willingness to take sexual risks, 3) preference for short-term mating, 4) perceptions of female attractiveness and 5) self-reported mate value. Because chemical receptors are found throughout the body and human chemosensory pathways have yet to be definitively identified, we also manipulate the location of copulin exposure (i.e. olfactory epithelium versus epidermal keratinocytes in the genital region). Finally, we examine whether prior sexual experience mediate any behavioral effects. Unlike previous reports, we fail to find any effects of copulin exposure on measures of men's sexual behavior.

Judgements of attractiveness of the opposite sex and nostril differences in self-rated mood: The effects of androstenol

“…This masking technique avoids exposing participants to an undiluted experimental stimulus and is a common procedure in studies investigating the effects of androstene compounds (e.g. Williams & Apicella, 2018). The intention is to avoid a Hawthorne-type effect (for review see McCambridge, Witton, & Elbourne, 2014) whereby participants' responses are influenced by what they believe to be the stimulus of experimental interest (see Jacob et al, 2002).…”

“…(p.24). Darwin's view notwithstanding, it is now apparent that the sense of smell is important to humans (Bushdid, Magnasco, Vosshall, & Keller, 2014;McGann, 2017;Stevenson, 2010;Williams & Apicella, 2018). In particular, perception of body odour appears to be an important feature of human interaction (see Carrito et al, 2017).…”