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Pheromones are thought to be the biological underpinning of the social behaviour. They have been extensively studied in animals. Pheromones are chemical factors that trigger a social response in members of the same species.

Why are there few studies in the human-literature?

Wikipedia pose the problem of "the need for cleanliness and odorlessness in human participants"

Is this a real experimental problem? Are there further limitations?

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  • $\begingroup$ I don't know much about this but I would imagine it would be difficult to design good experiments to really show causality. Linking anything as complex as human behavior to something like a molecule (or gene) is difficult. Additionally, we routinely mask natural odors with soaps and perfumes so it's unclear how much such scents would influence our behavior anyways. $\endgroup$ – syntonicC Jan 28 '18 at 19:23
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    $\begingroup$ What makes you believe there are 'few' studies in the human-literature? A Google Scholar search has quite a few results (are there somehow more or less than you would have expected?). I would rephrase your question to focus solely on your more valid follow-up question regarding limitations. $\endgroup$ – Steven Jeuris♦ Jan 29 '18 at 11:35

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