A quasi-randomised pilot study on the efficacy and perceived usefulness of adding chemosignals to mindfulness practice for women with social anxiety

Abstract

Abstract Body odours (BOs) of individuals in specific emotional states can influence receivers’ responses – referred to as an emotional contagion. To investigate the potential of BOs to enhance the effects of mindfulness practice, this quasi-randomised pilot study tested the hypothesis that participants exposed to emotional BOs during mindfulness meditation would exhibit a steeper decrease in state anxiety symptoms compared to mindfulness alone (clean air control). Ninety-eight women meeting criteria for Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) received two mindfulness sessions over two consecutive days, while randomly allocated to one of four conditions: fear BO, joy BO, neutral BO or a clean air control group. No odour × time interaction effect was observed, rejecting the primary hypothesis. Although not statistically significant, effect size estimates suggested a greater reduction in state anxiety for the group receiving fear chemosignals (Day 1 Cohen’s d = 0.26, Day 2 Cohen’s d = 0.54) compared to the clean air control group. Moreover, the BO groups perceived the mindfulness practice as significantly more helpful compared to the control group (p = 0.002). Given the sample size limits, a larger Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) incorporating more mindfulness + BO sessions is recommended to further examine the therapeutic potential of human BOs.