title: Affective dimensions of odor perception: a comparison between Swiss, British, and Singaporean populations.
abstract: Do affective responses to odors vary as a function of culture? To address this question, we developed two self-report scales in the United Kingdom (Liverpool: LEOS) and in Singapore (city of Singapore: SEOS), following the same procedure as used in the past to develop the Geneva Emotion and Odor Scale (GEOS: Chrea, Grandjean, Delplanque et al., 2009). The final scales were obtained by a three-step reduction of an initial pool of 480 affective terms, retaining only the most relevant terms to describe odor-related subjective affective states and comprised of six (GEOS) or seven affective dimensions (LEOS and SEOS). These included dimensions that were common to the three cultures (Disgust, Happiness Well-being, Sensuality Desire, and Energy), common to the two European samples (Soothing Peacefulness), and dimensions that were culture specific (Sensory Pleasure in Geneva; Nostalgia and Hunger Thirst in Liverpool; Intellectual Stimulation, Spirituality, and Negative Feelings in Singapore). A comparative approach showed that the dimensional organization of odor-related affective terms in a given culture better explained data variability for that culture than data variability for the other cultures, thus highlighting the importance of culture-specific tools in the investigation of odor-related affect.
authors.affiliation: Swiss Center for Affective Sciences-University of Geneva, 7 rue des battoirs, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland. camille.ferdenzi@unige.ch
authors.forename: Camille
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ferdenzi
authors.forename: Annett
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schirmer
authors.forename: S Craig
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: Sylvain
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Delplanque
authors.forename: Christelle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Porcherot
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cayeux
authors.forename: Maria-Inès
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Velazco
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sander
authors.forename: Klaus R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Scherer
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grandjean
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009812:Odorants; D055696:Olfactory Perception; D012846:Singapore; D013557:Switzerland; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult