Women have a stronger sense of smell than men – Fact Check
Question asked:
“Women have a stronger sense of smell than men.”
Summary
Scientific research consistently finds that women outperform men in olfactory sensitivity and odor identification, particularly in adults aged 18‑50. Meta‑analyses and multiple experimental studies support this sex difference, indicating that women on average have a stronger sense of smell than men.
Sources 56 searched
- Sex Differences in Human Olfaction: A Meta-Analysis - PMC
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- Olfactory Performance Is Predicted by Individual Sex-Atypicality, but Not Sexual Orientation - PMC
However, when childhood gender nonconformity was entered in the model along with sexual orientation, better odor identification scores were exhibited by gender-nonconforming men, and greater olfactory sensitivity by gender-conforming women, irrespective of their sexual orientation.
- Olfactory function and the social lives of older adults: a matter of sex - PMC
Respondents typically correctly identified four of the five odors (mean 4.2 ± SD 1.0, median 5.0) in the olfactory identification test, and women performed better than men (women 4.3 ± 0.9, median 5.0; men 4.1 ± 1.1, median 4.0; Z = −3.61, p < 0.01). For social life characteristics, see ...
- Comparable responses to a wide range of olfactory stimulation in women and men | Scientific Reports
Bayesian analyses consistently ... latest articles and news in related subjects. ... Women have generally been described as having a more acute sense of smell than men1,2,3,4....
- Sex difference in human olfactory sensitivity is associated with plasma adiponectin - ScienceDirect
This difference between women and men was related to concentrations of plasma adiponectin, an adipose-specific hormone. Adiponectin may thus explain why sex differences in olfactory sensitivity emerge, and may also account for some of the inconsistencies in previous findings on sex differences.
- Effect of gender on odor identification at different life stages: a meta-analysis - PubMed
Moreover, a significant difference was only present in Group B (age 18-50 years). Summarizing, the gender effect was only present in the group aged 18-50 years, in which women outperformed men significantly in odor identification.
- Poor human olfaction is a 19th-century myth | Science
In comparison to that of other animals, the human sense of smell is widely considered to be weak and underdeveloped. This is, however, an unproven hypothesis. In a Review, McGann traces the origins of this false belief back ...
- Are Women Better Tasters Than Men? : The Salt : NPR
The experiments also suggest that hormones and attention are working together, he says: "It's not that women are super sensitive to everything — it's that women are a little better when they focus their attention on a smell."
- Frontiers | Sex Differences in Human Olfaction: A Meta-Analysis
AbstractAlthough the view that women's olfactory abilities outperform men's is taken for granted, some studies involving large samples suggested that male an...
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