Have you ever noticed how your hand can get clammy whenever it’s tightened around a pencil, anxiously awaiting the test that is being passed out around you? This is known as stress sweating and is something that is extremely common, so don’t stress! Whenever you find yourself getting stressed out or feel your heart rate increase, your blood pressure increases as well, both of which cause an increase in body temperature. This then causes the completely normal reaction to increased body temperature: sweating! Now, have you ever thought about the effect your sweat could have on someone else?
Other than the ability to possibly smell the sweat of someone else in a stressful situation, a study found that the smell released during stress-sweating can also cause empathy related reactions in those around you. In a study of about 28 participants, the odor from sweat produced by the anxiety before a test was collected and then distributed back to the participants using an olfactometer. While only half of the participants consciously detected the odor, all the participants detected the odor subconsciously. Using fMRI to track brain activity, it was found that chemosensory anxiety signals activated areas of the brain that process social emotional stimuli and regulate empathetic feeling. Along with this, neuronal activity in attentional and emotional control systems were observed. This ultimately led to the conclusion that the chemosensory perception of human anxiety leads to an empathetic and emotional response within the individuals surrounding the stressed individual.
So, the next time you take a test, let that sweat go. The more you sweat, the more likely your classmates will be to pick up on your stress, causing either more stress or just a general reaction of their own, possibly leading to your professor picking up on the stress as well. According to the study mentioned above, this could cause an empathetic reaction that just might get your professor to move or cancel the test altogether. Who knows, maybe sweating it out could work to your benefit!
References
Prehn-Kristensen, Alexander et al. “Induction of empathy by the smell of anxiety.” PloS one vol. 4,6 e5987. 24 Jun. 2009, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005987
We are such social creatures it amazes me sometimes! I was looking at the journal article you referenced, "Induction of empathy by the smell of anxiety", and noticed that all of the participants in the study were male. It would be interesting to see if the same study would have the same outcome in female participants as well or if the empathy response would be more amplified or diminished especially since females perceive/react to social situations differently.
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