Testosterone in body odour linked to perceptions of social status
November 13, 2025
As humans, we are constantly navigating social status, using subconscious strategies to assert either our dominance or prestige.
We often use voice or body language to communicate this. Imagine a politician with a slow, booming voice, expanding their chest and extending their arms, quickly asserting authority over their audience.
We also use our sense of smell, according to new research from the University of Victoria (UVic), published in Evolution and Human Behaviour.
“This study examines the role of body odour in people’s perceptions of others’ social status,” says Marlise Hofer, a psychology postdoctoral researcher at UVic.
“We examined whether scent cues associated with levels of circulating testosterone impact people’s social status judgments.
“We found that both male and female participants in our study perceived men with higher levels of testosterone to be more dominant than men with lower testosterone levels.”