You perceive left-handed men as more masculine during ovulation

Sure, you may want to believe that your attraction to a certain person is due to their amazing personality, good looks and how compatible you are.

Or that an impression you get of someone is based on how they act and what they say.

However, your hormones can have sneaky ways of skewing your perception of people. For instance, I’ve written about how…

* During ovulation, you prefer the scent of men with symmetrical features.

* How trustworthy you think a person is depends on the week in your cycle.

* Your ability to gauge someone’s emotions changes with your hormone levels.

Now research reveals another quirky way your hormones affect your perceptions:

According to a study in the journal Chemical Senses, during ovulation you perceive left-handed men who you’re physically near as more masculine.

The researchers speculate it’s because when you’re fertile you become more sensitive to a certain pheromone emitted in male sweat–androstadienone–that sends an “I’m macho!” signal to your brain.

And it turns out left-handed men emit more of this pheromone in their left armpit–likely because lefties work up a bigger sweat on their left side because they use that arm more ofte and because left armpits tend to be saltier, which could help transmit more of this compound.

What’s this mean for you?

When a male leftie is around you during your ovulation days and you get physically close enough to get a whiff of his left armpit, you may find yourself more attracted to him since your high hormones push you toward more masculine men when you’re fertile.

Or, if he’s not mate material or you’re not into guys, during your fertile window, you may perceive a left-handed male who you’re physically close to as exhibiting more stereotypically masculine traits in social or business situations, for instance, you may see him as more assertive, ambitious, confident or dominating.

Check this out for yourself by hanging around some lefties, then report back to me what you experience. I’d love to know!