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 Stress levels dropped in women who smelled their partner’s shirt
during a stress test but rose in women who smelled a stranger’s
shirt, researchers found.
“Many people wear their partner’s shirt or sleep on their partner’s
side of the bed when their partner is away but may not realize why
they engage in these behaviors,” said lead study author Marlise
Hofer, a psychology graduate student at the University of British
Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.
“A partner’s scent alone, even without their physical presence, can
be a powerful tool to help reduce stress,” Hofer told Reuters Health
by email.
Hofer and colleagues worked with 96 couples, most in their early
20s, to complete the study. They asked the men to wear a white
T-shirt for 24 hours without deodorant or scented products. Then the
shirts were turned inside out, folded and placed in a sealed plastic
freezer bag with the underarm section facing the opening.
The women participated in the Trier Social Stress Test, which
includes a mock job interview and unanticipated mental math question
that causes a stress response. They were randomly assigned to smell
a single shirt three times before and three times after the stress
test. The shirt might have been worn by their romantic partner or a
stranger, or it might have been new and unworn.
The women also completed a questionnaire five times during the
experiment to indicate anxiety, physical discomfort, tension, desire
to leave the situation and feelings of control. Saliva samples were
collected seven times during the experiment to measure levels of the
stress hormone cortisol.
The research team found that perceived stress changed during the
experiment for most women, and those who smelled a partner’s shirt
felt less stressed both during and after the stress test than those
who smelled a stranger’s or unworn shirt.
The researchers were surprised to find that cortisol levels were
higher after the stress test in women who smelled a stranger’s
shirt. “These unanticipated findings could serve as a source of
future research,” Hofer said.
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Cortisol levels didn’t differ between women who smelled their
partner’s shirt and an unworn shirt.
Dr. Donald McBurney, professor emeritus of the University of
Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, has researched olfactory comfort in
close relationships. “In our studies, we received many anecdotes,
including lovers who mailed worn clothing back and forth between
military members and their partners back home,” McBurney, who wasn't
involved in the new study, told Reuters Health by email. “And
hospitals give infants items of their mother’s clothing to sleep
with.”
Future research should investigate whether perceived stress and
cortisol responses are the same for men and if additional factors
could reduce stress for both men and women, said Dr. Sean Mackey of
the Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, California.
Mackey, who wasn’t involved with this study, has researched romantic
relationships and experiences of pain.
“Can we further manipulate this (decreased stress) response and
amplify it?” he wrote in an email to Reuters Health. “How does the
strength of the (romantic) relationship affect the response?”
Beyond a controlled laboratory setting, researchers should also
study how this works in real-world applications, he added.
“During times of stress, keep those you love close to you,” Mackey
said. ‘If you are going to be away during a stressful period, it may
be useful to bring an article of their clothing.”
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