About smells and nature: an exploratory study on the links between environmental identity,smell sensitivity,and sensory uses of natural spaces (Sobre los olores y la naturaleza: un estudio exploratorio sobre los nexos entre la identidad ambiental,la sensibilidad olfativa y los usos sensoriales de los espacios naturales)

Abstract

Regular contact with urban nature has been shown to have positive effects on human health and cognitive and psychological restoration. Although complex and multisensory, the sensory part of the experience of nature has been primarily studied through vision and audition. In contrast, despite its importance in the formation of human self and identity, the sense of smell remains little explored with respect to understanding an individual’s psychological relationship with nature. In a quantitative study, we used an online questionnaire to study the individual relationship between neurological and physiological self-reported smell sensitivity, affective and emotional connection to nature, and actual sensory experiences in natural spaces. Based on the answers from 463 French adult respondents, we demonstrate that people having high smell sensitivity also have greater sensory uses of natural spaces, and that this correlation is mediated by their environmental identity. We then highlight the fact that the environmental identity, in its definition, could deeply be sense-related. These initial results call for a better understanding of how nature is experienced through smell and other senses, how these experiences can influence the way people interact with natural spaces, and the future use and management of natural spaces.