Major histocompatibility complex-associated odour preferences and human mate choice: near and far horizons.
Level 1 - systematic review of randomized trials
Systematic review and meta-analysis of observational, genomic, and experimental studies (by design analogy for non-clinical research).
PubMed 32306884 · doi:10.1098/rstb.2019.0260
What was done
The authors conducted meta-analyses across four domains evaluating major histocompatibility complex (MHC) dissimilarity in humans: genomic mate selection in actual couples, relationship satisfaction, odour preferences, and an overall combined analysis across all study types.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical effect sizes, test statistics, or study counts. Directionally, MHC dissimilarity showed no significant association with actual mate choice in genomic analyses, no significant effect on relationship satisfaction (where evidence of publication bias was found), no significant association with odour preferences, and no significant overall effect on human mate selection when combining all domains.
Why it matters
This review synthesizes the empirical evidence challenging the long-standing hypothesis that human mate selection and olfactory preferences are driven by MHC dissimilarity.
Limits
The abstract does not report quantitative effect estimates or study sample sizes. Primary studies exhibit varied quantification approaches, detected publication bias in relationship satisfaction datasets, and general limitations in geographical diversity, sample sizes, and controls for genome-wide background similarity.
Cited by
- contradicts Human mate selection and attraction are influenced by olfactory perception of highly polymorphic Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC/HLA) peptide fragments secreted in body fluids and sweat.