People are attracted to the body odour of others with similar political beliefs, according to a new study.
People find the smell of others with similar political opinions to be attractive, suggesting that one of the reasons why so many spouses share similar political views is because they were initially and subconsciously attracted to each other's body odour, researchers found.
In a study published in the American Journal of Political Science, 146 participants rated the attractiveness of the body odour of unknown strong liberals and strong conservatives, without ever seeing the individuals whose smells they were evaluating.
"People could not predict the political ideology of others by smell if you asked them, but they differentially found the smell of those who aligned with them more attractive. So I believe smell conveys important information about long-term affinity in political ideology that becomes incorporated into a key component of subconscious attraction," said Dr Rose McDermott, lead author of the study.
