title: Women's preference for dominant male odour: effects of menstrual cycle and relationship status.
abstract: Body odour may provide significant cues about a potential sexual partner's genetic quality, reproductive status and health. In animals, a key trait in a female's choice of sexual partner is male dominance but, to date, this has not been examined in humans. Here, we show that women in the fertile phase of their cycle prefer body odour of males who score high on a questionnaire-based dominance scale (international personality items pool). In accordance with the theory of mixed mating strategies, this preference varies with relationship status, being much stronger in fertile women in stable relationships than in fertile single women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Husnikova 2075, 155 00 Prague, Czech Republic. jan.havlicek@fhs.cuni.cz
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Havlicek
authors.forename: S Craig
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: Jaroslav
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Flegr
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility / Q000502:physiology*; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000502:physiology; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008597:Menstrual Cycle / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D009812:Odorants; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology