Political Science Publications
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
