ALJAZEERA: Politics stink — literally — according to scientists who released a study this week showing that people find the smells of others who share their political viewpoints more viscerally attractive than the odors of their ideological opponents.
The researchers suspect that preferences of this kind stem from evolutionary adaptations that support bonds between friends and allies…
The political scientists found a fairly strong correlation between politics and perceptions of attractiveness. In some cases, two different people could have markedly different reactions to the same vial. One woman called the bouquet of an ideological soul mate “the best perfume I’d ever smelled,” and asked to take the sample of armpit-gauze home. Meanwhile, someone on the opposite end of the political spectrum found the very same gauze pad to have a “rancid” reek.… (more)
