Contents:
- Medical Video: 7 Simple Tips To Reduce Your STRESS Right Now
- Is it true that kissing a couple's clothes can relieve stress?
- Why kissing a couple's clothes can reduce stress?
Medical Video: 7 Simple Tips To Reduce Your STRESS Right Now
A recent psychology study from the University of British Columbia has found that kissing the aroma of a partner can help reduce stress levels. These findings support previous studies that have concluded that the olfactory sensory system not only acts as a function of intoxication, but also affects the symptoms of stress, dehydroepiandrosterone, estradiol, dopamine, sebum secretion, and the immune system in humans. To find out what the connection between kissing a couple's clothes and stress levels, read on.
Is it true that kissing a couple's clothes can relieve stress?
The study, published on January 5, 2018 at UBC found that women will feel more calm after smelling the aroma of their partners. Conversely, exposure to the smell of foreigners increases anxiety and raises levels of the stress hormone, cortisol.
The lead researcher of the study, Marlise Hofer, explained that initially the study was conducted because many people wore their partner's clothes or slept on their partner's bedside when their partners left, but might not realize why they behaved like this.
"Our findings show that the aroma of a partner, even without their physical presence, can be a powerful tool to help reduce stress," he added.
For this study, experts recruited 96 opposite sex partners. Men are given clean T-shirts to wear for 24 hours, and are asked not to use deodorant body products or fragrances, smoke, and consume certain foods that can affect their scent. The shirt was then frozen to store the aroma of each person.
Furthermore, the women were randomly given the opportunity to kiss various T-shirts consisting of unused t-shirts or shirts that had been worn by men, both their partners or foreigners. They were not told which one they had given. Furthermore, women underwent stress tests involving fake job interviews, math questions, and also answered questionnaire questions about their stress levels. In addition, stress levels are also measured quantitatively through the levels of cortisol obtained from saliva. Researchers only ask women to act as "kissers" because they tend to have a better sense of smell than men.
They found that women who had kissed their partner's T-shirt felt less stressed before and after the test. In addition, those who can correctly identify the aroma are found to have lower cortisol levels. Meanwhile, women who smell the smell of foreigners have higher cortisol levels during stress tests.
Why kissing a couple's clothes can reduce stress?
The researchers suspect that evolutionary factors can influence why the smell of a stranger's body affects the level of the hormone cortisol. "From a young age, humans tend to be afraid of strangers, especially men, so that the smell of foreign men might trigger a response fight or flight which causes cortisol to increase, "Hofer said. "This can happen without us knowing it."
Frances Chen, senior researcher and assistant professor in UBC's department of psychology, said that the findings, namely kissing a couple's clothes, could be applied to help people deal with stressful situations when they were far from loved ones, especially in this area of globalization where more people who are required to travel or move around the city.
