AUTHOR=de Groot Jasper H. B. , Croijmans Ilja , Smeets Monique A. M. TITLE=More Data, Please: Machine Learning to Advance the Multidisciplinary Science of Human Sociochemistry JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology VOLUME=11 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.581701 DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2020.581701 ISSN=1664-1078 ABSTRACT=
Communication constitutes the core of human life. A large portion of our everyday social interactions is non-verbal. Of the sensory modalities we use for non-verbal communication, olfaction (i.e., the sense of smell) is often considered the most enigmatic medium. Outside of our awareness, smells provide information about our identity, emotions, gender, mate compatibility, illness, and potentially more. Yet, body odors are astonishingly complex, with their composition being influenced by various factors. Is there a chemical basis of olfactory communication? Can we identify molecules predictive of psychological states and traits? We propose that answering these questions requires integrating two disciplines: psychology and chemistry. This new field, coined