Just by smelling women's tears... men's 'this' significantly decreased

Weizmann Institute of Science Experiment in Israel
Men Who Smelled Tears Show 44% Reduction in Aggressive Behavior

A study has found that the smell of another person's tears reduces male aggression.

On the 21st (local time), the British daily The Guardian reported the research results of Professor Noam Sobel's neurobiology team at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, which obtained such results. According to this study, men who smelled the tears of others showed a reduction in aggressive behavior by more than 40%.

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Professor Sobel's team had previously found that the smell of women's tears reduces men's testosterone (male hormone), but they had not determined specifically how it affects behavior.

Therefore, in this study, the team focused on identifying the more specific influence of tears. First, they collected tears shed by women who watched sad movies. Although the tears were not collected by specifying gender, most of the volunteers were women, and six women who shed particularly large amounts of tears were selected as donors.

The research team had 31 men smell the collected tears and saline solution. After smelling the two different scents, the men played a computer game designed to deliberately provoke aggressive behavior by unfairly deducting points. The men showed 43.7% less aggressive behavior, such as punishment, in the game when smelling tears compared to when smelling saline.

Differences were also observed in brain imaging. In the brains of those who smelled tears, activity in neural networks related to aggression was lower. Additionally, functional connectivity between the brain regions handling smell and those governing aggression was higher.

Professor Sobel said, "The reduction in aggression was impressive and real," adding, "Whatever substance is in the tears, it actually lowers aggression." The research team suggested that the substance in human tears that reduces aggression may be an evolutionary product to protect vulnerable babies from aggression. Professor Sobel explained, "Babies cannot say 'do not be aggressive toward me.' Their communication abilities are very limited and helpless, so there is a definite vested interest in reducing aggression."

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The study results were published in the biological journal PLOS Biology.

Professor Art Pingerhutz, emeritus professor at Tilburg University in the Netherlands, commented on the study, saying, "It makes sense that tears suppress aggression in some way," and added, "It is common sense that infants are vulnerable to physical abuse, so (tears) may help them survive."

Dr. Mina Lyons, a psychologist at Liverpool John Moores University in the UK, expressed surprise at the aggression reduction caused by tears but pointed out, "The situation may actually be different, so further research is needed." He stated, "Tears of a person who is a victim of domestic violence may do little to reduce the aggressor's aggression," and added, "The social context of crying is very complex, so the reduction of aggression is considered one of the many potential functions of tears."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.