title: Fancy Citrus, Feel Good: Positive Judgment of Citrus Odor, but Not the Odor Itself, Is Associated with Elevated Mood during Experienced Helplessness.
abstract: Aromatherapy claims that citrus essential oils exert mood lifting effects. Controlled studies, however, have yielded inconsistent results. Notably, studies so far did not control for odor pleasantness, although pleasantness is a critical determinant of emotional responses to odors. This study investigates mood lifting effects of d-(+)-limonene, the most prominent substance in citrus essential oils, with respect to odor quality judgments. Negative mood was induced within 78 participants using a helplessness paradigm (unsolvable social discrimination task). During this task, participants were continuously (mean duration: 19.5 min) exposed to d-(+)-limonene (n = 25), vanillin (n = 26), or diethyl phthalate (n = 27). Participants described their mood (Self-Assessment-Manikin, basic emotion ratings) and judged the odors' quality (intensity, pleasantness, unpleasantness, familiarity) prior to and following the helplessness induction. The participants were in a less positive mood after the helplessness induction (p < 0.001), irrespective of the odor condition. Still, the more pleasant the participants judged the odors, the less effective the helplessness induction was in reducing happiness (p = 0.019). The results show no odor specific mood lifting effect of d-(+)-limonene, but indicate a positive effect of odor pleasantness on mood. The study highlights the necessity to evaluate odor judgments in aromatherapy research.
authors: Institute of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors: Matthias
authors: M
authors: Hoenen
authors: Institute of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich Heine University DüsseldorfDüsseldorf, Germany; Federal Employment Agency GermanyNürnberg, Germany.
authors: Katharina
authors: K
authors: Müller
authors: Institute of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors: Bettina M
authors: BM
authors: Pause
authors: Institute of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors: Katrin T
authors: KT
authors: Lübke
keywords: aromatherapy; citrus; helplessness; limonene; mood; vanillin