Androstadienone, a Chemosignal Found in Human Sweat, Increases Individualistic Behavior and Decreases Cooperative Responses in Men

• Published in: Chemical senses Vol. 43; no. 3; pp. 189 - 196
• Main Authors: Banner, Amir, Frumin, Idan, Shamay-Tsoory, Simone G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: UK Oxford University Press 26.02.2018
• Subjects: Adult; Androstadienes - administration & dosage; Androstadienes - pharmacology; Conflict (Psychology); Cooperative Behavior; Double-Blind Method; Healthy Volunteers; Humans; Individuality; Male; Pheromones - administration & dosage; Pheromones - pharmacology; Social Dominance; Sweat - chemistry; Young Adult; androstadienone; dominance; social chemosignaling; submissiveness
• ISSN: 0379-864X; 1464-3553
• DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjy002

Abstract A growing body of evidence suggests that humans can communicate socially relevant information, such as aggression, dominance, and readiness for competition, through chemosensory signals. Androstadienone (androsta-4,16,-dien-3-one), a testosterone-derived compound found in men's axillary sweat, is a main candidate for a human pheromone that may convey such information. The current study aimed to investigate whether androstadienone serves as a chemosignaling threat cue to men, thus triggering avoidance behavior during competitive interaction with another man. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject study design, 30 healthy, normosmic, heterosexual male participants completed the social orientation paradigm (SOP), a monetary game played against a fictitious partner that allows 3 types of responses to be measured in the context of provocation: an aggressive response, an individualistic withdrawal response, and a cooperative response. Participants completed the SOP task twice, once under exposure to androstadienone and once under exposure to a control solution. The results indicate that androstadienone increased individualistic responses while it decreased cooperative responses. These findings support the role of androstadienone as a threatening signal of dominance that elicits behavioral avoidance and social withdrawal tendencies, possibly as a submissive response.