People positively appraise odors of individuals who are genetically different from themselves. Here we analyzed the relationship between perceived similarity of body odor to the judges’ relatives and their partners, and characteristics attributed to the odor donor. Seventy-six women were asked to smell one of the scents of twenty-nine men, and rate variables related to potential sexual interest in odor donor. We hypothesized that characteristics related to potential sexual interest would be associated with odor donors smelling similar to a partner, (...) rather than with odor donors smelling similar to a relative. We found that perceived similarity to a partner’s scent was positively correlated with ratings of variables related to potential sexual interest in odor donor, whereas the resemblance to a close relative’s scent did not correlate with these assessments. (shrink)