Do Women Smell Better than Men? : Gendered Expectations in Olfactory Perception

Abstract: Learned expectations shape behaviours, thoughts, and thus the way the world is perceived. Olfactory perception is one of the less studied senses. One of the seminal issues regard possible differences in olfactory functioning between men and women. It is still unclear if a sex/gender difference exists and in that case what potential explanations could be. This work focused on exploring two salient explanations for possible sex/gender differences: innate differences as compared to gendered expectations. A between-subjects experiment where women and men rated the perceived properties of repeated odor exposure, either without prior information, or with gender-biased rating anchors was conducted. The experiment was conducted using flasks containing the odorant n-butanol. Participants were asked to rate the perceived intensity of the stimuli on a Borg CR-100 scale. Results were analysed in JASP using repeated measures analysis of variances (ANOVA). Bias significantly influenced the intensity ratings of both men and women to the same degree. This speaks against both innate differences and gendered expectations regarding olfaction. It, however, indicates a susceptibility to bias and the framing of information. Implications encompass, theoretically, that expectations change perception. Implications derived from that for applied (e.g., occupational/health) settings encompass the framing of expectation-related information regarding exposures or maladies.