Chemosignals Communicate Human Emotions

• Published in: Psychological science Vol. 23; no. 11; pp. 1417 - 1424
• Main Authors: de Groot, Jasper H. B., Smeets, Monique A. M., Kaldewaij, Annemarie, Duijndam, Maarten J. A., Semin, Gün R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.11.2012; Sage Publications; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Affectivity. Emotion; Anxiety; Biological and medical sciences; Chemicals; Chemistry; Communication; Disgust; Double-Blind Method; Emotional expression; Emotional states; Emotions; Emotions - physiology; Eyes; Facial Expression; Facial expressions; Fear; Fear - physiology; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Interpersonal communication; Interpersonal perception; Male; Odors; Olfaction. Taste; Olfactory Perception - physiology; Perception; Personality. Affectivity; Pheromones, Human - physiology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Sensory perception; Signal transduction; Smell; Social interaction; Social interactions. Communication. Group processes; Social psychology; Sweat; Sweat - physiology; Theory; Young Adult; emotional contagion; emotions; social communication; facial expressions; olfaction; chemosignals; disgust; fear; Human; Affect affectivity; Emotional expression; Disgust; Emotion emotionality; Fear; Olfaction; Perception; Face; Odor; Facial expression; Chemical stimulus; Communication
• ISSN: 0956-7976; 1467-9280
• DOI: 10.1177/0956797612445317

Can humans communicate emotional states via chemical signals? In the experiment reported here, we addressed this question by examining the function of chemosignals in a framework furnished by embodied social communication theory. Following this theory, we hypothesized that the processes a sender experiences during distinctive emotional states are transmitted to receivers by means of the chemicals that the sender produces, thus establishing a multilevel correspondence between sender and receiver. In a double-blind experiment, we examined facial reactions, sensory-regulation processes, and visual search in response to chemosignals. We demonstrated that fear chemosignals generated a fearful facial expression and sensory acquisition (increased sniff magnitude and eye scanning); in contrast, disgust chemosignals evoked a disgusted facial expression and sensory rejection (decreased sniff magnitude, target-detection sensitivity, and eye scanning). These findings underline the neglected social relevance of chemosignals in regulating communicative correspondence outside of conscious access.