An Overprotective Nose? Implicit Bias Is Positively Related to Individual Differences in Body Odor Disgust Sensitivity

Abstract

Body odors are universal elicitors of disgust, a core emotion that plays a key role in the behavioral immune system (BIS) -a set of psychological functions working to avoid disease. Recent studies showed that body odor disgust sensitivity (BODS) is associated with explicit xenophobia and authoritarianism. In the current experimental pre-registered study (https://osf.io/6jkp2/), we investigated the association between olfactory pathogen cues, BODS and implicit bias toward an outgroup (tested by an implicit association test). Results show that BODS is positively related to implicit bias toward an outgroup, suggesting that social attitudes may be linked to basic chemosensory processes. These attitudes were not influenced by background odors. Additionally, BODS was related to social, but not economic conservatism. This study extends the BIS framework to an experimental context by focusing on the role of disgust and body odors in shaping implicit bias.

Body odour disgust sensitivity is associated with xenophobia: evidence from nine countries across five continents

“…Similarly, one's sensitivity to feel disgust has been associated with general attitudes towards others, such as ethnocentrism and political conservatism [ 15 ]. Research concerning BODS has shown clear associations between body odour disgust and social attitudes: higher BODS levels are related to more explicit [ 16 ] and implicit [ 17 ] prejudice against outgroups.…”

Body odor disgust sensitivity (BODS) is related to extreme odor valence perception

“…The inclusion criteria were the following a) the studies had to have perceptual ratings of odors in at least two dimensions: intensity and pleasantness, b) the odor stimuli had to include both commonly pleasant and commonly unpleasant smells; and c) studies used the BODS questionnaire [11]. Although two of the four experiments were part of studies that were previously published [24,25], the current ratings and/or survey data analyses we focused on here were not included in these prior publications. Table 1 contains information about the experiments included in this paper.…”

“…In experiment 2, a drop of odor solution was placed on a medical cotton pad, which was then placed in tube-shaped cotton bands, and tied under the participant's nose. Participants were thus exposed to odors continuously over a period of several minutes while performing a task [25]. Perceptual ratings were done before and after the task.…”

COVID-19 y comportamiento psicológico: revisión sistemática de los efectos psicológicos de las pandemias del siglo XXI

“…De hecho, una de las consecuencias más importantes de una pandemia es el surgimiento o aumento de trastornos, de emociones negativas tales como ansiedad, miedo, inseguridad, incertidumbre 3 y, en general, de preocupación en los ciudadanos en todo el mundo 4 . La teoría del sistema inmune conductual (i.e., Behavioral Immune System, BIS por sus siglas en inglés) señala que las personas despliegan una serie de mecanismos cognitivos, emocionales y conductuales para enfrentar enfermedades contagiosas 5 . Junto a la teoría del estrés y la de evaluación del riesgo, estos modelos explican que en el contexto de una emergencia sanitaria las personas identifican claves con el fin de evitar exponerse al contagio (por ejemplo, la tos en un contexto de pandemia por influenza), desarrollando emociones negativas y creencias que pueden magnificar o minimizar el riesgo.…”

“…Los estudios revisados develan un impacto psicológico multidimensional importante a nivel de personas, grupos y organizaciones [4][5][6] . Las pandemias H1N1 y de COVID-19 han producido cambios drásticos en el comportamiento psicosocial de la población, pudiendo disminuir la satisfacción vital e inducir estados emocionales de temor, inseguridad e incertidumbre, además de trastornos psicológicos en las situaciones más graves.…”