We tend to say that happiness is something that escapes our eyes: an invisible sensation that makes us smile more and for which others interpret that we are in a better mood for some reason. Now, a new research carried out by scientists from the University of Koc in Istanbul (Turkey) and the Higher Institute of Applied Psychology of Lisbon (Portugal), affirms that happiness can be smelled and contagious, since the emotional state of contentment and Joy causes us to secrete certain chemicals that are secreted by sweat and that others can perceive and be imbued with .
Smell seems to be a strange way of receiving positive vibrations from the people around us , but the study published in the journal Psychological Science confirms this: “the human sweat that occurs when a person is happy induces a state similar to happiness in a person who inhales this smell, ”says Pistola Semin, co-author of the study.
To reach these conclusions, the researchers collected sweat samples from 12 healthy young men after watching various videos designed to elicit emotions such as fear or happiness. None of them consumed foods that caused body odor (such as alcohol or chili peppers) or had sexual intercourse during the study period. Furthermore, the scientists monitored the reactions of 36 young, healthy women while smelling the sweat samples of the male participants.
Men were chosen for the sweat samples because they are more sensitive to physical signals of an emotional nature. The fact that women have a better sense of smell was the reason why females were chosen for this second part of the experiment.
The results revealed the presence of a “behavioral synchronization” between the participant’s emotional state, their sweat, and the reaction of the volunteers who smelled the sweat. That is, the “happy sweat” elicited a contagious response in the person who smelled it .
“What’s interesting about this study is that it suggests that a positive emotion can be communicated, which in my opinion is much less important in human evolution and behavior than being able to convey and recognize a negative emotion, such as fear or anger.” says expert Pamela Dalton, who was not involved in the study.
Previous studies have already shown that negative emotions such as fear or anger can be transferred through odors in sweat. This study confirms that it is also possible in its most cheerful and positive aspect. The next step in the investigation will be to find out what is the chemical difference between the smell of fear in sweat and the smell of happiness in perspiration.
