According to new research, the unique repellent scent activated in the Invi bracelet significantly reduces sexual arousal. The groundbreaking findings of the study suggest that scent can be effectively used as a self-defense method in situations of sexual violence.
Groundbreaking research
During the development of the Invi Bracelet, Roel van der Kamp, founder of the Dutch social startup Invi, wanted to gain more insight into the possibilities of using scents to protect people against violence, and sexual violence in particular. "Nature shows us that scent can be powerful. Skunks, for example, use scent to deter predators, and foul odors evoke disgust, which helps people avoid diseases. In the military, odor eliminators are already used to control aggressive crowds. But in the context of sexual behavior, the use of malodorants is unprecedented." Therefore, Invi approached Dr. Charmaine Borg, a psychologist at the University of Groningen who was already conducting research into the relationship between sexual arousal and disgust, to investigate the effectiveness of the Invi Bracelet.
Dr. Borg was a pioneer in this first experiment of its kind investigating the impact of scent on sexual arousal, in which men (n=78) were exposed to either the malodorant (n=42) developed by Invi or an odorless substance (n=36) while watching a pornographic video. Sexual arousal was measured by means of both self-reports and penile circumference (state of erection). The foul odor was released when participants were already sexually aroused, and it resulted in a significant decrease in both mental and physical arousal compared to participants in the control group.
The research offers significant practical relevance and further strengthens the evidence that malodorants can be effectively used to prevent sexually compulsive behavior. Van der Kamp: "Sexual violence is a widespread societal problem. Invi is committed to preventing this human rights violation by providing people with a non-violent self-defense solution, the Invi Armband. This groundbreaking study supports the idea that malodorants can be used to prevent sexual violence." He notes that we must be cautious about generalizing the study's findings. "Controlled experiments differ from real-life situations, and sexually violent behavior is not always primarily driven by sexual arousal."
