title: Chemosignals communicate human emotions.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jasper H B
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: de Groot
authors.forename: Monique A M
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Smeets
authors.forename: Annemarie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaldewaij
authors.forename: Maarten J A
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Duijndam
authors.forename: Gün R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Semin
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005149:Facial Expression; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055696:Olfactory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D049049:Pheromones, Human / Q000502:physiology*; D013542:Sweat / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D049049:Pheromones, Human