Exposure to human body odors (BOs) from happiness or fear, compared to clean air, reduced self-reported anxiety during mindfulness practice over two days in women with social anxiety symptoms. However, fear BO exposure also decreased heart rate variability, indicating a less physiologically relaxed state. No differences in skin conductance were found. The findings suggest that emotional BOs create a sense of social presence, potentially enhancing the ecological validity of psychological treatments, and may eventually be used to augment existing therapies.
Body odours from people in emotional states can influence others, a phenomenon known as emotional contagion. This pilot study tested whether adding emotional body odours to mindfulness meditation reduces anxiety more than mindfulness alone. Ninety-eight women with Social Anxiety Disorder attended two mindfulness sessions while exposed to fear, joy, neutral body odour, or clean air. The primary hypothesis was not supported: there was no significant interaction between odour type and time on anxiety reduction. However, effect sizes suggested a greater decrease in state anxiety for the fear-odour group, and participants exposed to any body odour rated the practice as significantly more helpful. A larger trial is recommended.