YOU SMELL LIBERAL
A recent study published in
the American Journal of Political Science
– you know how I love to write about pointless studies that use the taxpayers dollars –
of 146 people surveyed indicates that people are attracted to the smell of those
with similar ideological beliefs (no, I’m not making this stuff up). So in short,
if you’re a screaming liberal, that man next to you on the tube that smells
utterly rank (to you), must be a gun-toting conservative. I’m not sure however where the people who
simply smell awful to everyone rank in this survey; I’m gathering they must be
independents. Furthermore, as scientists have known, this affinity for
another’s smell (and apparently political party) is a definitive signal in ‘signaling
compatibility to potential mates.’ I’d like to see how they’re going to handle
this one on online dating (please click here to smell my armpit!).
According to this survey,
participants between the ages of 18-40 (dear god, I can’t even partake in
surveys anymore) were asked to identify their political ideology on a seven
point scale, from strongly liberal, to utter neo con (my words, not theirs).
Then from this group, the scientist chose 21 individuals who were on one end of
the scale or the other. They were then told to wash with fragrance free soap,
wear a gauze pad under their arms for a day and were not allowed to smoke,
drink or use deodorant.
A week later, 125
individuals who were also asked about their political beliefs, were then asked
to rate the samples in terms of their attractiveness. These volunteers consistently
found those that they agreed with politically more attractive, and those that
scored on the opposite end of the spectrum less attractive. Obviously people could not
predict someone’s political bent purely by the smell – that would be highly amusing, “um, yeah, you stink and I can’t believe you voted
yes on Prop 8?!’ but they definitely found those that were of similar ideology
to themselves to be more appealing and desirable.
In our house, smell has
always been one of the more emphasised senses. When I am away from
my husband and son, the first thing I miss is the smell of them (the good
smells of course, then again, I find the King's bad morning breath oddly appealing. I won't bother explaining myself). In fact, I have been known to take a T-shirt of the King’s
if I have to be away from him for a while and smell the heck out of it. As for
my husband, he is obsessed with smell. You can’t walk two feet in our house
without running into a diffuser. I’m actually not kidding, from the hallway to
the kitchen, I counted six the other day. Yes, he’s a little obsessive.
I suppose it’s nice to know
there is another confirmation that we humans are mere animals – in case there
are still those of you that think otherwise. Soon enough, we’ll be walking up
to one another, taking a big sniff and offering to buy each other a drink (or
not)…or of course, running like hell in the other direction holding our noses.