ABSTRACT The effect of exposing 126 young men and women overnight to the vapours of two pheromonally active substances, either 5a-16-androsten-3a-ol (androstenol) or the mixture of short-chain fatty acids occurring in vaginal fluid, was examined in relation to their self-assessment of affective states. A mood questionnaire of 16 items, comprising dichotomised paired adjectives set out on a 100 mm visual analogue scale, was embodied in a test schedule administered to all subjects on the morning after overnight pheromone exposure. A sub-sample of 40 subjects was tested on the same questionnaire both before and after the exposure. Most of the individual terms of the questionnaire correlated closely with each other and showed high test reliability. The long term exposure to androstenol or to the volatile fatty acids had little, if any, effect on the subjects assessment of their mood. However, subjects that were tested prior to exposure to the pheromones, and then re-tested shortly after the exposure, showed evidence of treatment effects both on total mood scores and on several of the individual test items. An additional and separate question about the intensity of their sexual feelings revealed that there was a clear difference as between the men and women, but the presence of the pheromones did not affect this assessment. The findings are discussed and reviewed in terms of other recent experimental work on human pheromones. In particular, a number of odorous steroids, present in the axillary-organ, urine (and saliva), are present in very disproportionate amounts between the sexes and some of these have been shown, by different groups working in different laboratories, to be implicated in human sex preferences (mate choice). The exposure to the volatile steroids have marked effects in accentuating behavioural differences between the sexes these embrace changes in the perception of the social environment and interactions with peers. The changes in behaviour relate to variation in hormonal status both associated with the phases of the menstrual cycle and hormonal supplementation through the use of oral contraceptives. There is evidence that partner preferences are exercised in relation to cyclical hormonal fluctuations and other secretary changes embracing the skin (and axillae). In mice, the external body secretions (urine) serve an immune function and there is corroboration that they also do so in people. The exposure to vaginal fluids, known to be implicated in altering the assessment of persons, has a stimulating role in increasing testosterone levels in man. A dynamic system in which the organism, within a species (or taxon), has evolved to communicate internal secretory changes (primarily hormonal but also metabolic) and these are matched with those complimentary external secretions (pheromones) that have evolved, in parallel, to ensure through mate selection gene continuity across generations. The present findings are also examined, and compared with those of others in relation to the use of different steroids, long and short duration of exposure, and methods of assessing behavioural changes, both cognitive and affective. What underlying hormonal and neural structures are likely to be involved in allowing for the expression of these behaviours?
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