Why to Scent Subtly!

Humans “communicate” extensively via scents, according to research recently published by Hofer, Chen, and Schaller; these findings support subtle scentscaping. In another of our “in the news” articles, here is some really interesting information to wow your colleagues with.

Hofer and colleagues found that  “People readily perceive and react to the body odors of other people, which creates a wide range of implications for affective, cognitive, and behavioral responses. . . . . Like physical appearance, body odor reflects personal characteristics and temporary circumstances (e.g., people smell differently depending on their sex, age, health, and even transient emotional states; de Groot, Semin, and Smeets, 2017). . . .

Humans have a sophisticated olfactory system that discriminates between a wide range of scents—including the odors of other people. The perceptual processing of body odors occurs through neural mechanisms responsible for the processing of a wide range of social information obtained through various sensory modalities, and this processing typically occurs without conscious awareness. . . . The implication is that just as the human brain evolved to efficiently extract information from other individuals’ appearances, it also evolved to efficiently extract information from their smells.”

Marlise Hofer, Frances Chen, and Mark Schaller. 2020.  “What Your Nose Knows:  Affective, Cognitive, and Behavioral Responses to the Scent of Another Person.”  Current Directions in Psychological Science, vol. 29, no. 6, pp. 617-623, https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721420964175