Simply smelling a woman’s tears could reduce male aggression by over 40 percent, a study has revealed.
The research compiled by the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel has showed the shocking effect that women’s tears can have on men.
The experts state that there is a chemical compound found in human tears that create a signal which reduces activity in two aggression-related brain regions in men.
For the study, researchers had to collect tears as they rolled down women’s faces, which were produced by watching a sad movie.
The experiment involved 31 men who played an infuriating computer game which unfairly deducted players’ points and provoked an aggressive response in them.
The group then sniffed either saline solution or women’s tears, before having swabs dabbed with the same droplets stuck to their upper lip.
Aggressive behaviour in the form of retribution ended up being 43.7 per cent lower when men were sniffing the women’s tears compared to the saline solution according to the study.
Further brain scans also revealed that the ‘tear-sniffers’ had more functional connectivity between regions that handle scents and aggression, while activity in areas for aggression were lower.
“The reduction in aggression was impressive to us, it seems real,” said Noam Sobel, a lead professor of neurobiology at the university and who lead the study said.
“Whatever is in tears actually lowers aggression.”
Previous work carried out at Sobel’s lab discovered that sniffing women’s tears also reduced male testosterone but it was unclear whether this affected behaviour.
This is obvious when looking at animals however, with subordinate mole rats being known to cover themselves in tears to self-protect from aggressors, the study stated.
While Sobel conceded that the chemicals in tears are unlikely to have a great impact in adult social interactions, he added that the composition of tears may have evolved to protect vulnerable babies.
“Babies can’t say: ‘Stop being aggressive towards me’. They are very limited in their ability to communicate, and they are helpless as well,” he said.
“But evolution may have provided babies with this tool to lower aggression.”
Due to humans continuing to have the ability to produce tears throughout adulthood, he explained that crying is probably “a behaviour that serves us throughout life.”
Previous work by the same researchers back in 2011 revealed that women’s tears may also lower testosterone levels and actually dampen sexual desire in men.
They studied the effect of men sniffing fresh tears, collected in the same way as the recent study with the women watching sad movies.
The scientists measured a small but persistent fall in the men’s sexual feelings after smelling the tears.
“It is easy to see the advantage of having such a chemical signal in tears,” Sobel explained.
“Basically, you are protecting yourself when you are vulnerable.”
A person’s tears are produced by the lachrymal and meibomian glands and contain a number of different chemicals, including proteins, enzymes and metabolic waste products.
However, the composition of emotional tears differs from those that are shed as a result of a protective reflex, for example when grit gets into the eye.
“We don’t think there is something special about women’s tears,” he said. at the time.
“We definitely predict chemical signals in men’s tears and children’s tears too.”