An unprecedented research carried out at the University of São Paulo (USP) shows that odors influence not only our emotions, but interfere with our ability to interpret the emotions of other people around. At the study researchers demonstrate the relationship between facial expressions and odors.
Emotions are influenced by smell
Matheus Henrique Ferreira, a researcher at USP, says that there is a bilateral relationship between emotions and smells. In the study, the researcher concludes that emotions are seen and interpreted differently by others, depending on the smells present in the environment.
Conducted together with a group of people, the research demonstrates the intimate relationship between visual and olfactory stimuli and emotions. This means that odors help us to identify facial expressions, which make us respond differently to a particular smell.
Mirella Gualtieri, PhD in behavioral neuroscience, points out that the five human senses live in an integrated state and must behave harmoniously to allow human survival, such as adaptation to the environment and communication between different people and species.
In this way, a person located in an environment with the presence of pleasant or unpleasant odors, even without knowing it, will have their visual perception affected and, as a result, the way of perceiving the emotions of others from the facial expression will also be affected. will be changed.
Comfort or discomfort may be associated with the smell of the environment
The researchers use as a starting point the idea that the ability to smell can be related to the feeling of pleasure or discomfort we feel in a certain place.
In this way, the researchers asked the participants to identify the facial expressions of others, such as mild joy, and then to recognize whether this emotion was altered by the presence of a pleasant or unpleasant smell.
Thus, the study, carried out with 35 people, 20 women and 15 men, was able to demonstrate the relationship between the perception of others’ emotions and the positive or negative influence of smells.