Sellaro Roberta, van Dijk Wilco W, Paccani Claudia Rossi, Hommel Bernhard, Colzato Lorenza S
Cognitive Psychology Unit and Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University Leiden, Netherlands.
Front Psychol. 2015 Jan 13;5:1486. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01486. eCollection 2014.
A previous study has shown that the degree of trust into others might be biased by inducing either a more "inclusive" or a more "exclusive" cognitive-control mode. Here, we investigated whether the degree of interpersonal trust can be biased by environmental factors, such as odors, that are likely to impact cognitive-control states. Arousing olfactory fragrances (e.g., peppermint) are supposed to induce a more exclusive, and calming olfactory fragrances (e.g., lavender) a more inclusive state. Participants performed the Trust Game, which provides an index of interpersonal trust by assessing the money units one participant (the trustor) transfers to another participant (the trustee), while being exposed to either peppermint or lavender aroma. All participants played the role of trustor. As expected, participants transferred significantly more money to the alleged trustee in the lavender as compared to the peppermint and control (no aroma) conditions. This observation might have various serious implications for a broad range of situations in which interpersonal trust is an essential element, such as cooperation (e.g., mixed-motives situations), bargaining and negotiation, consumer behavior, and group performance.
先前的一项研究表明，对他人的信任程度可能会因诱导出更“包容”或更“排他”的认知控制模式而产生偏差。在此，我们研究了人际信任程度是否会受到环境因素（如气味）的影响，这些因素可能会影响认知控制状态。刺激性嗅觉香料（如薄荷）被认为会诱导出更排他的状态，而舒缓性嗅觉香料（如薰衣草）则会诱导出更包容的状态。参与者进行信任游戏，通过评估一名参与者（信任者）向另一名参与者（受托者）转移的货币单位来提供人际信任指标，同时让他们暴露在薄荷或薰衣草香气中。所有参与者都扮演信任者的角色。正如预期的那样，与薄荷和对照（无香气）条件相比，参与者在薰衣草环境下向所谓的受托者转移的资金明显更多。这一观察结果可能对人际信任是关键要素的广泛情形具有各种严重影响，比如合作（如混合动机情形）、讨价还价和谈判、消费者行为以及团队表现。
