“Physical attraction itself may literally be based on smell” according to Dr. Rachel Herz in a fascinating article in Psychology Today. If I understand it correctly, it’s all about a set of genes known as MHC, or major histocompatibility complex, that communicate about someone’s immune system. We appear to be biologically programmed to mate with partners who will bring some (but not all) new and different strengths to the immune system of our children. Thus, each generation of human will be a little more disease resistant than the preceding generation.

BTW, everyone’s MHC profile is unique, so there is no perfect smell that everyone will be biologically attracted to. And, there are a lot of other, non-scent related factors that come into play when we look at “attraction”.

Women seem to be more sensitive to this than men, which also makes sense biologically, given a 40,000 year pattern of women being more responsible than men for the care of children.

You knew all this already, didn’t you? That’s why you like to bury your face in your partner’s hair and just inhale, or smell his tee-shirt when you are about to do a load of wash. Because your nose knows.

Want to hear more about Dr. Rachel Herz?  Listen to my podcast on the Personal Life Media Network.