Chemical Attraction – Butts, Hips & Smell

In this week’s Success Newsletter, I would like to reveal the explanation for chemical attraction – and it is connected to the size of butts & hips and to smell.

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Now, let’s talk about the explanation for chemical attraction – and it is connected to the size of butts & hips and to smell.

Have you ever noticed that your boyfriend or girlfriend has a particular smell or scent?

I am not referring here to the person that requires more bathing or more deodorant! Instead, I am referring here to the way you respond to your partner’s natural scent. The smell is usually obvious in your partner’s T-shirts. You will most likely find that you are attracted to the scent of the T-shirt, and, you probably have even commented about how much you love his/her natural scent.

Why?

The scent relates to our genes and immune system – MHC (Major Histocompatibility Complex.)

And as I will explain in a moment, the scent is one indicator that this person will contribute to healthy offspring.

1. Scent
Thus, scent is one element of chemical attraction and I will elaborate further below.

2. Facial Symmetry
Another element of chemical attraction is facial symmetry – the distances between certain parts of the face and proportions of those parts and features. Men and women who are viewed as being beautiful by the masses often have highly symmetrical faces. Numerous studies reveal that we are attracted to people who have symmetrical features. Dr. Kendra Schmid, assistant professor of biostatistics at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, has created a formula based on 29 different points on the face, resulting in a scale out of 10.

The average person scores 4 -5, celebrities score above 6 with Brad Pitt scoring 9.6, Angelina Jolie 7.1, Ryan Gosling 7.3, George Clooney 6.7, Kate Upton 7.4 and Miley Cyrus 7.3.

Why are symmetrical features so attractive to us?

Symmetrical features (and clear skin & healthy teeth) indicate that the individual has correct genes, which, result in strong bodies and strong immune systems – both of which are critical for raising healthy offspring.  Research reveals that women’s ears and hands become more symmetrical before and during ovulation.

3. Buttocks and spine curvature
A new study explains another factor of what attracts women to heterosexual men – the curvature of the woman’s spine and thus the protrusion of her buttocks. It was found that a curve of 45.5 degrees between the female spine and buttocks is objectively more attractive to men than smaller or larger angles.

Why?

That curve helps women get through pregnancy.

“These women would have been more effective at foraging during pregnancy and less likely to suffer spinal injuries. In turn, men who preferred these women would have had mates who were better able to provide for fetus and offspring, and who would have been able to carry out multiple pregnancies without injury.” – Bilkent University psychologist David Lewis.

The key point here is that chemical attraction is driven by the brain with one intention only – to produce healthy offspring.

4. The magic number of 0.7 (Waist-to-hip ratio)
Here is another example of chemical attraction before explaining the link between the smell of T-shirts and attraction:

The waist to hip ratio (WHR) – when the waist is 70% of the size of hips, men become more attracted to the woman. And this is consistent with studies done across cultures and even dating back to the early 20^th century. Thus, while the body size of women may have changed over time, the attractiveness of waist to hip ratio has not.

Why is waist-to-hip ratio of 0.7 significant?

It suggests that a woman is more fertile and better suited for bearing children with greater chance of a healthy and successful pregnancy. Further, another study found that the waist to hip ratio of 0.7 infers that the female will have sex at an earlier age and with more partners than a female with a different waist to hip ratio. Read more about WHR – Waist-to-hip ratio.

The waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is also a predictor of health; women with the ideal WHR (difference of 7 inches between their waist and hips) are healthier  in 6 key areas.

With regards to females, one study found that women “set a preferred ideal man at a BMI of 24.5, a waist-to-hip ratio of .86 and a waist-to-chest ratio of .77.”

Explanation of smell/scent and attraction
How does scent play a part in mate selection and attraction?

I mentioned earlier MHC – Major Histocompatibility Complex.

MHC is a set of cell surface molecules encoded by a large gene family which controls a major part of the immune system. MHC binds pathogens on the cell surface so that the immune system can examine and respond accordingly.

Simply put, MHC genes play an important role in keeping cells safe and healthy.

It is widely accepted that MHC is identified by humans by smell – by the odor emitted via sweat. And this is where scent is connected to attraction:

In various studies using T-shirts worn for 2 nights’ sleep by the opposite sex, it was found that men were attracted to the scent of MHC which is dissimilar to their own MHC. “Men also preferred the scent of women at fertile cycle points.”  As for the women, they were attracted to smell whereby the man had heterozygous MHC (the 2 copies of his genes are slightly different from each other.)

Again, what is the significance of the specifics of chemical attraction relating to MHC?

When a man and woman mate based on the MHC chemical attraction, the result is healthier offspring – a stronger immune system, greater resistance to parasites, lower rate of family-disease epidemics, and less chance of early pregnancy loss.

Thus, it appears that we have little conscious control of to whom we are attracted; lust is chemical and hardwired.

However, lust doesn’t determine to whom we will commit in a relationship or who we will end up marrying or committing to in a relationship.

It is obvious that there is a difference between love and lust. However, the effects are not so obvious – the effect of love rejection is greater that the effect of lust rejection. The latter results in despondency, or simply a new ‘target’, while the former (rejection by a partner or love interest) results in depression, revenge and sometimes murder! Lust is the instinct for reproducing healthy offspring; love is the desire and need for bond and attachment. I will discuss this in next week’s Success Newsletter.

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I wish you the best and remind you “Believe in yourself -You deserve the best!”

Patrick Wanis Ph.D.
Celebrity Life Coach, Human Behavior & Relationship Expert & SRTT Therapist
www.patrickwanis.com