Posted on 05/15/2003 9:53:48 AM PDT by HuntsvilleTxVeteran
THE perfume diet may be the next big thing after researchers found men think women weigh less if they smell of flowers than if they smell of pizza.
In fact, a 10-year US study has found that pleasant, floral-spice perfume makes women appear 5kg lighter in the eyes of the opposite sex.
Other odours, including butterscotch, cigarette smoke, grapefruit and pepperoni pizza don't have the same effect.
The floral-spice scent acted as "the olfactory equivalent to vertical lines", said Chicago neurologist and psychiatrist Alan Hirsch, who presented his findings at a meeting of the Association for Chemoreception Sciences in Florida.
As part of the study researchers sprayed a 1.75m tall, 111kg cosmetic saleswoman with a variety of fragrances.
The woman was then sent out on separate days to approach men in various locations and ask them to guess her weight.
Two hundred males aged between 12 and 61 were surveyed.
"Wearing a floral spice odour can reduce a woman's perceived weight by as much as 7 per cent," Dr Hirsch said.
He said the study was consistent with research showing smells can influence human behaviour.
For example, a previous study had shown women who smelled of cinnamon and lavender were perceived to be more intelligent, successful and trustworthy, he said.
Associate Professor Graham Bell, director of the Centre for ChemoSensory Research at the University of NSW, said Dr Hirsch's findings should not be dismissed.
"If someone was wearing a pleasant perfume it's quite possible that an attitude would click into place," he said.
Dr Hirsch said floral odours had been shown to increase blood flow to the penis, so perception of the woman may have been influenced by sexual arousal.
That's a lot of woman. Her weight might be hard to guess accurately. Most guys don't have experience guessing women's weights in the 111 Kg (= approx 245 pounds) range.
This is what I was thinking while I read the article. The guy is turned on and he doesn't want to admit that he was attracted to an overweight woman. In his mind, she was thinner. Five or six drinks will have the same effect on his perception of her weight.
My thought exactly! :>)
Oops! Little head hogging all the blood.
;-)
'Extraneous' sensory perceptions often influence other perceptions: there is a nice little experiment the psych dept at the university where I teach did every semester back when the clear Pepsi was on the market, in which students are asked to describe and rate the flavor of three sodas. All three are identical, except for color: one was the clear cola, uncolored, one was colored brown, the third pink. The brown one (which met expectations we have developped which associate cola flavor with brownness) was always rated 'best' and perceives as being cola flavored, the others were liked less well, and described in a variety of ways (pink tended to evoke descriptions involving 'cherry').
It's quite possible the effect being measured is purely cultural: we expect attractive women to wear floral perfumes, and regard thin (or reasonably so) as attractive. Quite possibly in the 1880's when the ideal of feminine beauty was more 'Reubenesque' floral perfumes would have lead to an overestimate of the woman's weight.
Maybe so, but guessing the weight of a 244 pound woman is not exactly an everyday task. Line up some more normal sized (120 - 150 lb) women and see what happens.
This is all bunk.
The brown one (which met expectations we have developped which associate cola flavor with brownness) was always rated 'best' and perceives as being cola flavored, the others were liked less well, and described in a variety of ways (pink tended to evoke descriptions involving 'cherry').
You can now get KoolAid which has likewise disassociated its color from flavor. That is, red-colored grape, etc.
SD
I think he did. It also was in a beer ad with men sitting at the bar, chatting as if they were women--hilarious.
If a woman asks that question, she knows what the answer is. If the male says yes, he's doomed. If he says no, she knows he's a liar. You can't win.
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