London, Dec 2 (IANS) A healthy nose ensures a happy, enduring relationship, says a study based on data involving people aged between 18 and 46 years with and without olfactory sense, according to a British media report.
The results showed men and women unable to smell were more insecure, with men particularly affected when it comes to finding love. Such men averaged just two partners compared to 10 among those with robust sense of smell.
Scientists attribute this to timidity and lack of adventurousness on the part of men because of their poor sense of smell and how they are perceived by others, the journal Biological Psychology reports.
Women in both categories had on average the same number of partners – four – but those who couldn’t smell lacked confidence in their partners and were on average 20 percent less secure than females who could.
Significantly, a woman’s lack of smell had no impact on her friendships, suggesting smell is only key for females when it comes to relationships, according to the Daily Mail.
Smelling, or olfaction, is generally the least understood of the senses but it is increasingly recognised as having an important role in a large number of areas.
