Why do politically like-minded partners form? This question remains a puzzle. While ideological convergence has been proposed, conscious selection seems unlikely. Olfaction's role in politics and attraction is increasingly recognized.
Experiment Design: Individuals evaluated body odors from unknown others to test attraction hypotheses related to political ideology.
Key Finding: Participants exhibited greater attraction toward the scent of those with shared political ideologies.
Implication: Assortative mating on political attitudes may partially stem from olfactory preferences, offering a novel perspective.
| Assortative Mating on Ideology Could Operate Through Olfactory Cues was authored by Rose McDermott, Dustin Tingley and Peter Hatemi. It was published by Wiley in AJPS in 2014. |
