Role of pheromones in sociosexual behaviors (esp. humans)

[Nightshift]

I wonder to which degree pheromones (or hormones in general) play a role in forming social relations and sociosexual behaviors like mate selection.
For animals without complex social interactions pheromones might suffice for basic coordination, but for mammals (especially humans) I wonder whether chemical signalling is augmenting or even fully subordinate to other signs of health and virtue, leading to attraction, or not.

I am thankful for discoverXS to provide yet another platform to discuss expectations and results of certain molecules.​

As with anything, I guess phero signalling is largely dependent on context.
Although I am more of a physical/engineer/computer scientist and thus not fully versed on any aspect of ethology, social sciences, behavioral research or even chemistry,

Nonetheless, I am quite capable of extracting important lessons from various topics and would like to share insights and also learn from all the various experiments which have already been conducted and reported on this platform.

[Muestereate]

Welcome nightshift. Pheromones indeed are an avenue to explore human relationships. We form theories, test them, and to understand what goes on around us. form new theories. Sometimes we start reaching a consensus, Other times our results are much more individualized. Contexts are important but so are background, experience, beliefs and conclusions people have come up with to comprehend their world perspective.

Think of it as a set of probabilities. Everyone has the potential to respond to a certain stimulus in a certain way, but it's just an inclination; a probability. They often can respond in an opposite way than we do but even that is not the whole story but opposites are a framework to start with. Instead of a polar response, imagine a wheel, Opposites balance but there are infinite shades of response the rest of the way around the wheel. The wheel metaphor better explains how people can flip into an opposite character if they take any position to extremes. for instance, a man of courage pushed to the extreme may start to reveal the fear underneath that his courage is a response to, likewise extreme timidity may force someone to make a very courageous stand when cornered.

We usually start forming our framework of understanding by observing fear versus excitement with the molecule androstenone a molecule normally associated with provoking a sexual response in animals but in humans at the right dose can generate excitement that a lot of people associate with sex.

Read the forums verify your understanding and keep notes in a journal.

[EMPYREAL]

I remember a video on vimeo that did a neat experiment of just that; the different fight or flight responses while under the stimulus of mones both dogs and cats responded the same as humans. A mild difference was the human reacted slower because of emotional control.