Everyone is having smell discourse without me but it’s Christmas Eve and I’m about to enter a food coma 😤 But, yeah, if you actively dislike the smell of your partner, it doesn’t bode terribly well. It is hard to adapt the way we respond to smells, especially those we feel strongly about. We can certainly come to find our partner’s smell pleasant or comforting through positive association, but that process is more challenging for automatically aversive smells. There is some evidence to suggest that the way we respond to the smells of potential partners relates to a set of genes called the Major Histocompatibility Complex that code for our immune systems. The idea is that we might find the smells of those with different immunity genes more attractive, as it would result in babies with more diverse immune systems. But the studies are limited and that’s not necessarily what’s going on here. It could be influenced by a whole multitude of other factors. Best of luck to the couple - a few people have told me that smell was a contributing factor to a previous break up 🥴