Swiss Identity Smells Like Chocolate: Social Identity Shapes Olfactory Experience
45 Pages Posted: 8 Mar 2016
Date Written: March 7, 2016
Abstract
There is extensive evidence that social identities can shape people’s attitudes and behavior, but what about sensory experience? In two experiments, we investigated whether social identity can influence olfaction. We presented Swiss and non-Swiss participants with the odor of chocolate, for which Switzerland is world-famous, and a control odor (popcorn). Swiss participants primed with Swiss identity experienced the odor of chocolate (but not popcorn) as more intense than non-Swiss participants (Experiments 1 and 2) and than Swiss participants primed with individual identity or not primed (Experiment 2). The perceived intensity of chocolate smell tended to increase as identity accessibility increased — but only among Swiss participants (Experiment 1). These results suggest that identity priming can counter-act classic sensory habituation effects, allowing identity-relevant smells to maintain their intensity after repeated presentations. This suggests that social identity dynamically influences sensory experience. We discuss the implications for models of social identity and chemosensory perception.
Keywords: intergroup relations, social identity, priming, olfaction, intensity
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