Does warmth have a smell? The influence of ambient odour on perceived physical and social warmth

Odour has a major influence on cognition and behaviour. We here examined its influence on temperature perception. Research on social warmth has shown that social behaviour can be influenced by physical warmth and vice versa. Most studies focussing on this subject used a physical prime to influence social warmth. In the current study odour primes previously associated with cues of warm temperature and social warmth are used instead. The aim of this study was to examine whether odour affects perceptions of physical and social warmth. Participants were primed with a warm (pea soup) or cold (eucalyptus) odour while in a waiting area. They subsequently judged the water temperature of glasses of water by tasting them. They also evaluated a target person involved in a social interaction described in a short paragraph. Participants primed with the warm odour judged the temperature of water as significantly colder than participants who were primed with the cold odour. A positive trend showed for the effect of warm odour on the evaluation of social behaviour displayed by the target person in the description.
This is the first study in which learned associations (warm or cold) with odours as primes are shown to exert effects on subsequent perceptions, as other studies have relied on present physically warm or cold primes.
We surmise that associations of warmth acquired from exposure to advertisements in which pea soup is consumed during winter and in a socially warm setting can cue broad mental representations related to temperature that may affect ongoing perceptions and cognitions