New Study Shows Tears are a Turn-Off for Men
- Saturday, January 29 2011 @ 10:09 am
- Contributed by: kellyseal
- Views: 1,848
A woman’s tears can stop men in their tracks, at least when it comes to sex.
Israeli researchers found that a chemical in a woman’s tears significantly lowers men’s testosterone levels, which could affect how attractive they find a woman and their level of sexual arousal.
Researcher Noam Sobel of the Weizmann Institute in Israel specializes in the study of pheromones, or biochemical signaling agents, and admits that so far most pheromone studies have focused on human sweat.
“But sweat is not the only way humans emit chemicals, and that’s what led us to consider tears,” Sobel said.
Previous research had shown that tears resulting from emotional reactions (sadness or fear) contained 25 percent more proteins than so-called “cleansing tears” we get from chopping onions or dusting. The six women used in the study watched their favorite tear-jerker films, and scooped their tears into vials which were then handed to 50 male participants.
Half the men were given saline solution vials and the other half actual tears, and were then asked to smell. Though the participants couldn’t tell the difference between saline and real tears, the ones sniffing tears showed physiological and psychological changes.
In one experiment, the male participants were shown images of women. The men who sniffed tears found the images less sexually attractive than the men who sniffed saline. In another experiment, researchers measured saliva samples and found that testosterone levels were lower in the men who sniffed tears.
The researchers originally set out to study the tears of both men and women, but when they advertised for subjects who were able to cry easily, they obtained an overwhelming response from women and no response from men.
Israeli researchers found that a chemical in a woman’s tears significantly lowers men’s testosterone levels, which could affect how attractive they find a woman and their level of sexual arousal.
Researcher Noam Sobel of the Weizmann Institute in Israel specializes in the study of pheromones, or biochemical signaling agents, and admits that so far most pheromone studies have focused on human sweat.
“But sweat is not the only way humans emit chemicals, and that’s what led us to consider tears,” Sobel said.
Previous research had shown that tears resulting from emotional reactions (sadness or fear) contained 25 percent more proteins than so-called “cleansing tears” we get from chopping onions or dusting. The six women used in the study watched their favorite tear-jerker films, and scooped their tears into vials which were then handed to 50 male participants.
Half the men were given saline solution vials and the other half actual tears, and were then asked to smell. Though the participants couldn’t tell the difference between saline and real tears, the ones sniffing tears showed physiological and psychological changes.
In one experiment, the male participants were shown images of women. The men who sniffed tears found the images less sexually attractive than the men who sniffed saline. In another experiment, researchers measured saliva samples and found that testosterone levels were lower in the men who sniffed tears.
The researchers originally set out to study the tears of both men and women, but when they advertised for subjects who were able to cry easily, they obtained an overwhelming response from women and no response from men.
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