Wedekind 1995 "Smelly T-shirt experiment"

Question 1

aim

Answer 1

to determine whether one’s MHC would affect mate choice

Question 2

my study for

Answer 2

• pheromones
• one reaserch method in the study of pheromones
• ethical consideration in the study of pheromones
• evolutionary explanation of behaviour

Question 3

participants

Answer 3

49 female and 44 male students from the University of Bern, Switzerland

Each participant was “typed” for their MHC, and a wide variance of MHC was included in the sample. It was noted if the women were taking oral contraceptives

They did not knoe each other as the women and men were taken from different classes

Question 4

procedure

Answer 4

Men wore a plain cotton T-shirt for two nights, avoiding deodorants, scented soaps, smoking, or spicy foods to preserve natural body odor.

The women (who were at their most fertile phase of the menstrual cycle) smelled and rated the shirts based on pleasantness and attractiveness. Researchers also analyzed participants’ MHC genes.

1. The men were asked to wear a T-shirt for two nights and to keep the T-shirt in an open plastic bag during the day.
2. They were given perfume-free detergent to wash clothes and bedclothes and perfume-free soap for showering. They were asked not to use any deodorants or perfumes, to refrain from smoking tobacco or drinking alcohol, to avoid all spicy foods, and to not engage in any sexual activity.
3. Two days later, the women were asked to rank the smell of 7 t-shirts, each in a cardboard box with a “smelling hole.”
4. The women were tested whenever possible in the second week after the beginning of menstruation, as women appear to be most odor-sensitive at this time.
5. The women were also asked to prepare themselves for the experiment by using a nose spray for the 14 days before the experiment to support the regeneration of the nasal mucous membrane if necessary – as well as a preventive measure against colds or flu. Each woman was also given a copy of Süskind’s novel Perfume to sensitize their smell perception.

Question 5

procedure pt.2

Answer 5

Three of the seven boxes contained T-shirts from men with MHC similar to the woman’s own

Three contained T-shirts from MHC dissimilar men;

and one contained an unworn T-shirt as a control.

Alone in a room, every woman ranked the odors of the T-shirts for intensity (range 0-10) and for pleasantness and sexiness (range
0 -10, 5 = neutral).

Question 6

results

Answer 6

Women scored male body odors as more pleasant when they differed from their own MHC

This difference in odor assessment was reversed when the women rating the odors were taking oral contraceptives.

This suggests that the MHC may influence human mate choice.

Question 7

strengths

Answer 7

• replicable
• reduced risks of demand characteristics
  ( the design of the study was a double-blind experiment. This means that neither the researchers nor the participants knew which t-shirt they were being exposed to at any point in the study. )
• ethical yay The study also met ethical standards as consent was obtained from all participants, and they were debriefed.

Question 8

weaknesses

Answer 8

some argue that the theory is reductionist – that is, it over-simplifies the behavior of human mate selection by bringing it down to the MHC – ignoring cognitive and sociocultural factors.

• unrepresentative sample
  ( the participants were similar in age and culture )