In times of stress, humans secrete a type of sweat (apocrine sweat) that they do not secrete at any other time. This sweat has been previously shown to influence others who are exposed to it. The current project seeks to explore how apocrine sweat influences the people who are exposed to it. Using the framework of Emotional Contagion Theory, two studies were conducted to assess the effects of stress-induced apocrine sweat on human perceptions and interactions. Study 1 saw participants exposed to either thermoregulatory sweat or apocrine sweat before watching a short, fear-inducing video. Participants then reported their levels of psychological fear, physical fear, and how afraid they thought others would be in response to the video. Results indicate that exposure to apocrine sweat increases the level of fear reported, and that this effect is stronger for women than it is for men. The effect is consistent regardless of how susceptible one is to other forms of emotional contagion. Study 2 saw a romantic couple exposed to either thermoregulatory sweat or apocrine sweat before engaging in a conflict discussion. Participants then reported on their levels of anger and their partners levels of anger as compared to their typical discussion about the topic. Results indicate that exposure to apocrine sweat is associated with a reduction in the couples levels of anger. This effect was equally strong for men and women, and was not influenced by susceptibility to other forms of emotional contagion. Overall, results indicate that apocrine sweat has discernable effects on human perceptions and interactions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-08292016-160242 |
| Date | 07 September 2016 |
| Creators | Hatcher, Laura Caitlyn |
| Contributors | Isbell, Charles D., Garand, James C., Bodie, Graham D., Edwards, Jean R. |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf, application/octet-stream |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-08292016-160242/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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