Odors are closely linked to emotions, yet there is limited understanding of how specific odors elicit emotions in children and adolescents. This study aims to analyze the number and types of important odors reported by children and adolescents and to explore sex- and age-related differences in how specific odors are linked to basic emotions. A total of 197 participants (100 boys, 97 girls) aged 11–17 were asked to name odors that elicit specific emotion, and verbal fluency was tested for control purpose. Mann–Whitney analysis showed that girls named more odors that were important to them than boys. Word content analysis showed sex-specific patterns that boys associated “food” odors with happiness more than girls, and girls more often linked sadness to “nature” odors. Furthermore, the emotion-odor association changed over development, with older adolescents showing patterns closer to those observed in adults. These findings highlight age- and sex-related variations in olfactory-emotional connections, reflecting developmental changes in odor-emotion linkages.
Alaoui-IsmailiO.RobinO.RadaH.DittmarA.Vernet-MauryE. (1997). Basic emotions evoked by odorants: Comparison between autonomic responses and self-evaluation. Physiology & Behavior, 62, 713–720.
2.
Ayabe-KanamuraS.SchickerI.LaskaM.HudsonR.DistelH.KobayakawaT.SaitoS. (1998). Differences in perception of everyday odors: A Japanese-German cross-cultural study. Chemical Senses, 23(1), 31–38. https://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/23.1.31
3.
BarelE.TzischinskyO. (2018). Age and sex differences in verbal and visuospatial abilities. Advances in Cognitive Psychology, 2(14), 51–61. https://doi.org/10.5709/acp-0238-x
4.
BensafiM.RoubyC.FargetV.BertrandB.VigourouxM.HolleyA. (2002). Psychophysiological correlates of affects in human olfaction. In Neurophysiologie clinique-clinical neurophysiology (pp. 326–332).
BrooksB. L.ShermanE. M. S.StraussE. (2009). NEPSY-II: A developmental neuropsychological assessment, second edition. Child Neuropsychology, 16(1), 80–101. https://doi.org/10.1080/09297040903146966
7.
CarrieP. (2007). Being boys; being girls: Learning masculinities and femininities. McGraw-Hill Education.
8.
CavazzanaA.WesargC.Parish-MorrisJ.LundströmJ. N.ParmaV. (2018). When preschoolers follow their eyes and older children follow their noses: Visuo-olfactory social affective matching in childhood. Developmental Science, 21, e12507. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12507
9.
ChenL.TanS.LiS.MaQ.ChenY.YanC.SchrieverV. A.ZouL. (2024). Measuring the importance of olfaction in Chinese children: A psychometric study of the Chinese version of the Children’s Personal Significance of Olfaction Questionnaire. Journal of Sensory Studies, 39(3), e12928. https://doi.org/10.1111/joss.12928
10.
CherneyI. D.LondonK. (2006). Gender-linked differences in the toys, television shows, computer games, and outdoor activities of 5- to 13-year-old children. Sex Roles, 54(9), 717–726. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9037-8
11.
CroyI.OlgunS.JoraschkyP. (2011). Basic emotions elicited by odors and pictures. Emotion, 11(6), 1331–1335. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024437
12.
DemattèM. L.EndrizziI.BiasioliF.CorollaroM. L.ZampiniM.GasperiF. (2011). Individual variability in the awareness of odors: Demographic parameters and odor identification ability. Chemosensory Perception, 4(4), 175–185. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12078-011-9103-7
13.
DiasN. M.MenezesA.SeabraA. G. (2013). Age differences in executive functions within a sample of Brazilian children and adolescents. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 16, E9. https://doi.org/10.1017/sjp.2013.12
14.
FerdenziC.CoureaudG.CamosV.SchaalB. (2008). Human awareness and uses of odor cues in everyday life: Results from a questionnaire study in children. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 32(5), 422–431. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025408093661
15.
FerdenziC.MustonenS.TuorilaH.SchaalB. (2008). Children’s awareness and uses of odor cues in everyday life: A Finland–France comparison. Chemosensory Perception, 1(3), 190–198. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12078-008-9020-6
16.
GellrichJ.ZickmüllerC.SchrieverV. A. (2021). Assessment of olfactory function in children and adolescents: An overview. Chemical Senses, 46, bjab027. https://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjab027
17.
HerzR. S. (2009). Aromatherapy facts and fictions: A scientific analysis of olfactory effects on mood, physiology and behavior. International Journal of Neuroscience, 119(2), 263–290. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207450802333953
18.
HerzR. S. (2016). The role of odor-evoked memory in psychological and physiological health. Brain Sciences, 6(3), 22. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci6030022
19.
HingleM. D.O’ConnorT. M.DaveJ. M.BaranowskiT. (2010). Parental involvement in interventions to improve child dietary intake: A systematic review. Preventive Medicine, 51(2), 103–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2010.04.014
20.
InokuchiE.KamioY. (2013). Qualitative analyses of verbal fluency in adolescents and young adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 7(11), 1403–1410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2013.08.010
21.
JansenP. W.DerksI. P. M.MouY.van RijenE. H. M.GaillardR.MicaliN.VoortmanT.HillegersM. H. J. (2020). Associations of parents’ use of food as reward with children’s eating behaviour and BMI in a population-based cohort. Pediatric Obesity, 15(11), e12662. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijpo.12662
22.
KollmayerM.SchultesM.-T.SchoberB.HodosiT.SpielC. (2018). Parents’ judgments about the desirability of toys for their children: Associations with gender role attitudes, gender-typing of toys, and demographics. Sex Roles, 79(5), 329–341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0882-4
23.
KoniecznyD. T.FjaeldstadA. W.SandbergK. (2024). Test-retest reliability and validity of the Importance of Olfaction Questionnaire in Denmark. PLOS ONE, 19(1), Article e0269211. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0269211
24.
LohrerE. C.DworschakA.CroyI.GellrichJ.SabhaM.ParisatoL.SchrieverV. A. (2022). Children’s personal significance of olfaction—The ChiPSO Questionnaire. Chemosensory Perception, 15(2), 154–164. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12078-022-09303-z
25.
LoosH. M.SchaalB.PauseB. M.SmeetsM. A. M.FerdenziC.HavlíčekJ. (2023). Past, present, and future of human chemical communication research. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 20(1), 20–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916231188147
26.
McLeanC. P.AndersonE. R. (2009). Brave men and timid women? A review of the gender differences in fear and anxiety. Clinical Psychology Review, 29(6), 496–505. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2009.05.003
27.
Monnery-PatrisS.RoubyC.NicklausS.IssanchouS. (2009). Development of olfactory ability in children: Sensitivity and identification. Developmental Psychobiology, 51(3), 268–276. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.20363
28.
MurrJ.HummelT.RitschelG.CroyI. (2018). Individual significance of olfaction: A comparison between normosmic and dysosmic people. Psychosomatics, 59(3), 283–292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psym.2017.11.009
29.
PattonG. C.SawyerS. M.SantelliJ. S.RossD. A.AfifiR.AllenN. B.AroraM.AzzopardiP.BaldwinW.BonellC.KakumaR.KennedyE.MahonJ.McGovernT.MokdadA. H.PatelV.PetroniS.ReavleyN.TaiwoK.. . . VinerR. M. (2016). Our future: A Lancet commission on adolescent health and wellbeing. The Lancet, 387(10036), 2423–2478. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00579-1
30.
PonsF.LawsonJ.HarrisP. L.De RosnayM. (2003). Individual differences in children’s emotion understanding: Effects of age and language. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 44(4), 347–353. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9450.00354
31.
QiuY.ZhouH.MaQ.SchrieverV. A.HummelT.ZouL. (2023). Normative data for odor identification performance using the U-sniff test from Chinese children and adolescents. Journal of Sensory Studies, 38(5), e12859. https://doi.org/10.1111/joss.12859
32.
RobinsonM. D.KleinR. J.IrvinR. L. (2021). Sex differences in threat sensitivity: Evidence from two experimental paradigms. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 95, 104159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2021.104159
33.
SaarniC. (2000). Emotional competence: A developmental perspective. In Bar-OnR.ParkerJ. D. A. (Eds.), The handbook of emotional intelligence: Theory, development, assessment, and application at home, school, and in the workplace (pp. 68–91). Jossey-Bass/Wiley.
34.
Santos NogueiraD.Azevedo ReisE.VieiraA. (2016). Verbal fluency tasks: Effects of age, gender, and education. Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica, 68(3), 124–133. https://doi.org/10.1159/000450640
35.
SeoH.-S.GuarnerosM.HudsonR.DistelH.MinB.-C.KangJ.-K.CroyI.VodickaJ.HummelT. (2011). Attitudes toward olfaction: A cross-regional study. Chemical Senses, 36(2), 177–187. https://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjq112
36.
SmeetsM. A. M.SchiffersteinH. N. J.BoelemaS. R.Lensvelt-MuldersG. (2008). The Odor Awareness Scale: A new scale for measuring positive and negative odor awareness. Chemical Senses, 33(8), 725–734. https://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjn038
37.
SorokowskaA.GroyeckaA.KarwowskiM.FrackowiakT.LansfordJ. E.AhmadiK.AlghraibehA. M.AryeeteyR.BertoniA.BettacheK.BlumenS.BłażejewskaM.BortoliniT.ButovskayaM.CantareroK.CastroF. N.CetinkayaH.ChangL.ChenB.-B.. . . SorokowskiP. (2018). Global study of social odor awareness. Chemical Senses, 43(7), 503–513. https://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjy038
38.
SoussignanR.SchaalB.MarlierL.JiangT. (1997). Facial and autonomic responses to biological and artificial olfactory stimuli in human neonates: Re-examining early hedonic discrimination of odors. Physiology & Behavior, 62(4), 745–758. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9384(97)00187-X
39.
StevensonR. J. (2010). An initial evaluation of the functions of human olfaction. Chemical Senses, 35(1), 3–20. https://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjp083
40.
StevensonR. J.RepacholiB. M. (2003). Age-related changes in children’s hedonic response to male body odor. Developmental Psychology, 39(4), 670–679. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.39.4.670
41.
VarendiH.PorterR. H. (2001). Breast odour as the only maternal stimulus elicits crawling towards the odour source. Acta Paediatrica, 90(4), 372–375.
YeomansM. R. (2000). Rating changes over the course of meals: What do they tell us about motivation to eat?Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 24(2), 249–259. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0149-7634(99)00078-0
44.
ZosulsK. M.RubleD. N.Tamis-LeMondaC. S.ShroutP. E.BornsteinM. H.GreulichF. K. (2009). The acquisition of gender labels in infancy: Implications for gender-typed play. Developmental Psychology, 45(3), 688–701. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014053
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
