‘Friendship at first sniff’ as study shows humans bond with people who smell the same

‘Perfect strangers may begin to interest us at first sniffs rather than at first sight alone’

Experts found people who have similar body odours are more likely to make friends with each other (Getty Images)

People who share similar body odour are more likely to make friends with each other, according to a new study.

Just as dogs might sniff one another to determine a new friend’s gender, health or temperament, Israeli researchers have found that humans use smell in a similar, albeit in a more “covert” and subconcious, way.

The results of the study, conducted by researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, were determined by “smelling” clothes using a device called an “eNose”, which suggested that sense of smell is perhaps more central to human social interactions than previously thought.