
Fulltext:
217799.pdf
Embargo:
until further notice
Size:
1.134Mb
Format:
PDF
Description:
Publisher’s version
Publication year
2020Number of pages
7 p.
Source
Cognition & Emotion, 34, 3, (2020), pp. 621-627ISSN
Publication type
Article / Letter to editor

Display more detailsDisplay less details
Organization
SW OZ BSI SCP
Journal title
Cognition & Emotion
Volume
vol. 34
Issue
iss. 3
Languages used
English (eng)
Page start
p. 621
Page end
p. 627
Subject
Behaviour Change and Well-beingAbstract
The olfactory system provides us with rich information about the world, but the odours around us are not always detectable. Previous research has shown that disgust enhances olfactory sensitivity to n-butanol. Because n-butanol incidentally is mildly negative, it is unclear whether disgust, being a negative, avoidant emotion, enhances sensitivity to stimuli with negative qualities (valence-fit effect), or across stimuli in general (general sensitivity effect). Here we tested these competing hypotheses by examining thresholds to two scents, one positive (phenylethanol) and one mildly negative (n-butanol), during a disgust, happiness, and neutral emotion induction. We found that exposure to disgusting pictures lowered olfactory threshold across both scents. Thus our current results replicated the results of previous research, and also revealed support for a general sensitivity rather than a valence-fit effect. This suggests that disgust facilitates the perceptual detection of extremely faint targets presumably because avoidant emotions enhance perceptual vigilance in general.
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- Academic publications [203608]
- Electronic publications [101944]
- Faculty of Social Sciences [27286]
Upload full text
Use your RU credentials (u/z-number and password) to log in with SURFconext to upload a file for processing by the repository team.