Effect of Information about Odor on Causal Ascriptions for Illness

Abstract

The effect of information about detection of an odor on causal ascriptions for illness was investigated. In four different scenarios perceptions regarding the cause of a hypothetical symptomatic experience were compared for events described with and without an odor. Participants (N=106) were asked to imagine themselves becoming ill after engaging in several common experiences, including pumping gasoline at a service station. In two scenarios participants read that they smelled an offensive odor while pumping the gasoline whereas in two other scenarios no information about an odor was provided. Further, information about gasoline described with or without odor was presented either early or late in the stimulus paragraphs. All participants then responded to questions including an open-ended question asking them to make causal attributions for their illness. Participants in the odor-suggested group ascribed the cause of illness more frequently to gasoline and perceived the probability of other potential causes as lower than did participants in the nonodor suggested group. Findings suggest that peoples' implicit theories about toxicity contain causal connections between malodorous stimuli and illness. The implications of implicit theories for perception of illness are discussed.