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Animals : an open access journal from MDPI2021; 11(12); 3499; doi: 10.3390/ani11123499

A Preliminary Investigation of Interspecific Chemosensory Communication of Emotions: Can Humans (Homo sapiens) Recognise Fear- and Non-Fear Body Odour from Horses (Equus ferus caballus).

Abstract: Mammalian body odour conveys cues about an individual's emotional state that can be recognised by conspecifics. Thus far, little attention has been paid to interspecific odour communication of emotions, and no studies have examined whether humans are able to recognise animal emotions from body odour. Thus, the aim of the present study was to address this question. Body odour samples were collected from 16 two-year-old thoroughbred horses in fear and non-fear situations, respectively. The horse odour samples were then assessed by 73 human odour raters. We found that humans, as a group, were able to correctly assign whether horse odour samples were collected under a fear- or a non-fear condition, respectively. Furthermore, they perceived the body odour of horses collected under the fear condition as more intense, compared with the non-fear condition. An open question remains, which is whether humans could simply distinguish between little versus much sweat and between high intensity versus low intensity or were able to recognise horses' fear and non-fear emotions. These results appear to fit the notion that the ability to recognise emotions in other species may present an advantage to both the sender and the receiver of emotional cues, particularly in the interaction between humans and domesticated animals. To conclude, the present results indicate that olfaction might contribute to the human recognition of horse emotions. However, these results should be addressed with caution in light of the study's limitations and only viewed as exploratory for future studies.
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Publication Date: 2021-12-08 PubMed ID: 34944275PubMed Central: PMC8697966DOI: 10.3390/ani11123499Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

The research article investigates whether humans can smell fear or non-fear in horse body odour. The study found that as a group, humans were able to correctly assign whether horse body odour samples were collected in fearful or non-fearful situations.

Research Objectives

  • The main goal of this study was to determine whether humans can distinguish between fear and non-fear emotions in horses through body odour.

Methodology

  • Body odour samples were collected from 16 two-year-old thoroughbred horses that were exposed to both fear and non-fear situations.
  • These horse odour samples were then assessed by 73 human volunteers, known as odour raters. The odour raters were asked to categorize the samples as either fear-induced odour or non-fear-induced odour.

Findings

  • The study found that participants were able to correctly label whether the horse body odour samples were collected in a fearful or non-fearful situation.
  • The participants also rated the odour from horses collected under fearful conditions as more intense compared to the non-fearful conditions.

Implications

  • The study suggests that the ability to recognize emotions in other species through odour could provide an advantage, particularly in interactions between humans and domestic animals.
  • It also indicates that olfaction, or the sense of smell, might contribute to human recognition of horse emotions.

Limitations and Future Studies

  • The researchers cautioned that these findings might be influenced by human participants being able to simply distinguish between various levels of sweat or intensity, rather than specifically recognizing fear or non-fear emotions in horses.
  • These results are exploratory and potential limitations of the study should be considered, such as the relatively small sample size of horses and human raters, and the potential impact of individually varying stenches.

Cite This Article

APA
Sabiniewicz A, Białek M, Tarnowska K, Świątek R, Dobrowolska M, Sorokowski P. (2021). A Preliminary Investigation of Interspecific Chemosensory Communication of Emotions: Can Humans (Homo sapiens) Recognise Fear- and Non-Fear Body Odour from Horses (Equus ferus caballus). Animals (Basel), 11(12), 3499. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11123499

Publication

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
ISSN: 2076-2615
NlmUniqueID: 101635614
Country: Switzerland
Language: English
Volume: 11
Issue: 12
PII: 3499

Researcher Affiliations

Sabiniewicz, Agnieszka
  • Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, 50-527 Wrocław, Poland.
  • Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Smell and Taste Clinic TU Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
Białek, Michał
  • Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, 50-527 Wrocław, Poland.
Tarnowska, Karolina
  • Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, 50-527 Wrocław, Poland.
Świątek, Robert
  • Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, 50-527 Wrocław, Poland.
Dobrowolska, Małgorzata
  • International Center for Interdisciplinary Research, Silesian University of Technology, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland.
Sorokowski, Piotr
  • Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, 50-527 Wrocław, Poland.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Citations

This article has been cited 6 times.
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