Men don’t often jump at the chance to watch the latest tear-jerker flick with their wives or girlfriends, and now, it seems there might be a biological reason for their hesitation.  New research suggests that women’s tears emit chemical signals that turn men off.

After sniffing odorless tears (do tears usually have a smell?) from women who cried during a sad movie, men in a study were less attracted to the opposite sex and less sexually aroused, as assessed by self-reports, physiological measurements, and neuroimaging tests, than men who sniffed salt water.  Their testosterone levels also sand, according to the study, published in Science Express.

The authors, led by Noam Sobel (associate professor of neurobiology at the Weizmann Institute of Science), suggested that this tear-borne chemical signal represents a novel, functioning role for crying. That is, shedding tears is a form of communication for humans. For example, babies who can’t ask for food cry when they’re hungry. Among speaking adults, tears can provoke feelings of sympathy and empathy.

Willaim Frey, director of the Alzheimer’s Research Center at Health Partners and Regions Hospital in Minnesota, says, “Humans are the only animals that have the ability to shed tears in response to emotional stress.” If women are communicating a chemical message that they need comfort, not sex, it seems appropriate that a man’s testosterone levels would take a dip.

It is important to note, though, that tears caused by heightened emotion are chemically different than those caused by say, chopping onions – so, chop away, those aren’t an anti-aphrodisiac.

 

Tags: crying, science, testosterone
Categories: Stuff | What in the world?