Pleasure and disgust: memories and associations of pleasant and unpleasant odours in Germany and Japan

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Abstract
The question of whether odour experiences have a function in the cultures of the technically industrialized world was investigated by interviews with German (166) and Japanese (88) subjects. They were asked to name pleasant and unpleasant odours from memory and to give associations regarding them. The participants enumerated 2040 odours and 3520 associations. Although Japanese subjects in general gave less information than the Germans, the results for both cultures were very similar in quality as well as quantity. The odour memories included the whole physical and social environment and the associations showed the far-reaching effect of odour experiences. Both pleasant and unpleasant odours were remembered to an equal extent. Most of the odours recalled were assessed similarly by the subjects, as either pleasant or unpleasant. Obviously, individual likings or aversions are dominated by underlying evaluations common to all subjects of both cultures. Uniformly judged odours were, for example, odours of plants (pleasant) and odours of rotten and decomposed things (unpleasant). It is discussed whether this finding reflects preprogrammed survival strategies. The few cultural differences which were found seemed to reflect different life habits, norms and values in the two countries.