English
 
Help Privacy Policy Disclaimer
  Advanced SearchBrowse

Item

ITEM ACTIONSEXPORT

Released

Journal Article

Hot and cold smells: Odor-temperature associations across cultures

MPS-Authors
/persons/resource/persons41871

Wnuk,  Ewelina
Language and Cognition Department, MPI for Psycholinguistics, Max Planck Society;
Center for Language Studies , External Organizations;

Huisman,  John L. A.
Center for Language Studies , External Organizations;
International Max Planck Research School for Language Sciences, MPI for Psycholinguistics, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons119

Majid,  Asifa
Center for Language Studies , External Organizations;
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, External Organizations;
Research Associates, MPI for Psycholinguistics, Max Planck Society;

External Resource
No external resources are shared
Fulltext (restricted access)
There are currently no full texts shared for your IP range.
Fulltext (public)

Wnuk_etal_2017.pdf
(Publisher version), 633KB

Supplementary Material (public)
There is no public supplementary material available
Citation

Wnuk, E., De Valk, J. M., Huisman, J. L. A., & Majid, A. (2017). Hot and cold smells: Odor-temperature associations across cultures. Frontiers in Psychology, 8: 1373. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01373.


Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-002D-BF87-4
Abstract
It is often assumed odors are associated with hot and cold temperature, since odor processing may trigger thermal sensations, such as coolness in the case of mint. It is unknown, however, whether people make consistent temperature associations for a variety of everyday odors, and, if so, what determines them. Previous work investigating the bases of cross-modal associations suggests a number of possibilities, including universal forces (e.g., perception), as well as culture-specific forces (e.g., language and cultural beliefs). In this study, we examined odor-temperature associations in three cultures—Maniq (N = 11), Thai (N = 24), and Dutch (N = 24)—who differ with respect to their cultural preoccupation with odors, their odor lexicons, and their beliefs about the relationship of odors (and odor objects) to temperature. Participants matched 15 odors to temperature by touching cups filled with hot or cold water, and described the odors in their native language. The results showed no consistent associations among the Maniq, and only a handful of consistent associations between odor and temperature among the Thai and Dutch. The consistent associations differed across the two groups, arguing against their universality. Further analysis revealed cross-modal associations could not be explained by language, but could be the result of cultural beliefs