The lasting smell of emotions: The effects of reutilizing fear sweat samples

Nuno Gomes,Fábio Silva,Gün R Semin

doi:10.3758/s13428-020-01412-5

Abstract

A growing body of research has shown that human apocrine sweat carries information about the emotional state of its donor. Exposure to sweat produced in a fear-inducing context triggers in its receivers a simulacrum of this emotional state, as evidenced by increased medial frontalis and corrugator supercilii (facial electromyography; fEMG) activity – two facial muscles involved in the display of fear facial expressions. However, despite the increased interest in the effects of emotional sweat, little is known about the properties of these chemical sweat samples. The goal of this study was to examine whether a second application of the same sweat sample would yield reliable results. Specifically, we assessed whether sweat samples collected from Portuguese males (N = 8) in fear (vs. neutral)-inducing contexts would produce similar fEMG activations (i.e., in the medial frontalis and corrugator supercilii) in female receivers (N = 60) across two independent applications (the first with Dutch and the second with Portuguese receivers). Our findings showed that exposure to fear (vs. neutral) sweat resulted in higher activation of both muscles compared with neutral odors, revealing a similar data pattern across the two applications and underlining the feasibility of reusing emotional sweat samples. The implications of these findings for properties of these sweat volatiles are discussed.

Highlights

Compared with other senses such as vision or hearing, human olfaction has largely been neglected
The aim of the research reported in this paper was to test whether sweat samples obtained from donors can be reliably used on two separate occasions
The results of the study showed that in both the first and the second administration of the sweat samples, the exposure to fear sweat triggered a significantly higher activation of the facial muscles involved in the fear facial expression

Summary

Introduction

Compared with other senses such as vision or hearing, human olfaction has largely been neglected This started to change in the late 1970s (e.g., Russell, 1976), and interest among the scientific community in the human sense of smell has continued to grow since . In the case of affective states, recent studies have shown that chemosignals induced during emotional states lead to a simulacrum of the donor’s emotional state (e.g., fear and happiness; de Groot et al, 2015). They modulate a wide range of behavioral responses including mimicry of the donor’s facial expression (see de Groot et al, 2017). Exposure to fear chemosignals results in the activation of the medial frontalis and corrugator supercilii

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