Seubert Janina, Rea Amy F, Loughead James, Habel Ute
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
Chem Senses. 2009 Jan;34(1):77-84. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjn054. Epub 2008 Sep 11.
Olfactory perception is characterized by interpersonal variability. Although gender has been identified as a potential influencing factor, currently little is known about its effect on perceived hedonicity of individual odorants. This study assessed gender differences in emotional appraisal of 3 odorants (eugenol, vanillin, and hydrogen sulfide [H(2)S]), presented to 25 healthy subjects (13 males, 12 females) in a blocked design. Standardized scales rating valence and judgments of emotional experience were used for stimulus evaluation. Results indicate ambiguous pleasantness ratings for eugenol as well as stronger responses to vanillin odorant in female subjects; furthermore, in emotional experience ratings, the effect of eugenol was found to be gender dependent, evoking more positive and less negative emotions in female subjects than in males. The gender dependence of the mood response to eugenol necessitates reconsideration of this odorant as a reliable gender independent olfactory stimulus for studies on olfaction and emotion.
嗅觉感知具有个体差异。尽管性别已被确定为一个潜在影响因素，但目前对于其对个体气味剂享乐感的影响知之甚少。本研究采用区组设计，向25名健康受试者（13名男性，12名女性）呈现3种气味剂（丁香酚、香草醛和硫化氢[H₂S]），评估了性别在情绪评价方面的差异。使用标准化量表对效价进行评分，并对情绪体验进行判断以进行刺激评估。结果表明，丁香酚的愉悦度评分不明确，女性受试者对香草醛气味剂的反应更强；此外，在情绪体验评分中，发现丁香酚的效果存在性别依赖性，与男性相比，女性受试者产生的积极情绪更多，消极情绪更少。丁香酚情绪反应的性别依赖性使得有必要重新考虑将这种气味剂作为嗅觉和情绪研究中可靠的、与性别无关的嗅觉刺激物。
