Stressed women smell incompetent and untrustworthy

Researchers have proved that the smell of stress sweat – which is a different scent to sweat released during exercise or while in a hot place – can change others’ perceptions of the person under pressure.In comparison to internal or external heat sweat, odour given off when stressed women sweat is perceived by men and […]

Researchers have proved that the smell of stress sweat – which is a different scent to sweat released during exercise or while in a hot place – can change others’ perceptions of the person under pressure.
In comparison to internal or external heat sweat, odour given off when stressed women sweat is perceived by men and other women as unpleasant, leading them to judge the sweater as lacking confidence and competence, as well as being untrustworthy, scientists say.
Sweat from going for a run or lying on a hot beach is produced by one type of sweat gland, whereas stress sweat comes from two, which secrete liquids that smell foul when mixed with bacteria on the skin.
Stress sweat expert Dr Susan Biehle-Hulette explained: ‘Stress-induced sweat, the worst smelling of the three causes of sweat, can occur unexpectedly at any point in the day, often becoming a vicious cycle.
‘Research demonstrates there are three causes of sweat – physical exertion, environmental heat and stress.
 ‘Sweat caused by physical activity (internal thermal stress) and environmental heat (external thermal stress) are produced by secretions from the eccrine sweat gland, while stress (emotional) sweat is produced by secretions from the eccrine and apocrine gland and as this sweat mixes with bacteria on our skin, the result is a distinguishably foul odour.
‘Researchers have studied the impact of stress sweat on emotional states and brain activity, but we have not previously evaluated how it influences social perception.
‘For the first time, we have found that stress sweat odour impacts overall judgments of perceived confidence, trustworthiness and competence.’
The study, published in the journal PLOSone, follows significant research into how humans use body odours to communicate.
Dr Biehle-Hulette led a team who took samples of the three different sweat types from 44 female donors to see how the different scents would affect how they were perceived by others.
The women were put through the Trier Social Stress Test, which comprise five minutes of speech preparation, five minutes of mental arithmetic and five minutes of public speaking.
Samples of sweat were taken during each with the women rating their moods during each.
Following the stress test, they did a 15 minute workout on an exercise bike to provide a sample of exertion sweat.
Researchers used the samples, some of which were treated with deodorant, to see how they affected how the women were judged by others.
Videos of the women performing everyday tasks like office work, cleaning the house and childcare were shown to 120 men and women.
All of the men and women who smelled the treated sweat rated the women significantly more confident, trustworthy and competent, while women evaluated in the presence of untreated stress sweat were equally rated by males and females as “stressed”.
What’s more, the male participants rated the women in the videos significantly less confident, competent and trustworthy when the videos were matched with the untreated stress sweat