Political attitudes vary with detection of androstenone

Authors

Amanda Friesen, Western UniversityFollow
Mike Gruszczynski
Kevin B. Smith
John R. Alford

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Spring 2020

Volume

39

Issue

1

Journal

Politics and the Life Sciences

First Page

26

URL with Digital Object Identifier

https://doi.org/10.1017/pls.2019.18

Last Page

37

Abstract

Building on a growing body of research suggesting that political attitudes are part of broader individual and biological orientations, we test whether the detection of the hormone androstenone is predictive of political attitudes. The particular social chemical analyzed in this study is androstenone, a nonandrogenic steroid found in the sweat and saliva of many mammals, including humans. A primary reason for scholarly interest in odor detection is that it varies so dramatically from person to person. Using participants’ self-reported perceptions of androstenone intensity, together with a battery of survey items testing social and political preferences and orientations, this research supports the idea that perceptions of androstenone intensity relate to political orientations—most notably, preferences for social order—lending further support to theories positing the influence of underlying biological traits on sociopolitical attitudes and behaviors.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Citation of this paper:

Friesen, A., Gruszczynski, M., Smith, K. B., & Alford, J. R. (2020). Political attitudes vary with detection of androstenone. Politics and the Life Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1017/pls.2019.18