Skip Navigation


Chemical Senses Advance Access originally published online on December 10, 2007
Chemical Senses 2008 33(2):211-222; doi:10.1093/chemse/bjm081
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
33/2/211    most recent
bjm081v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Zellner, D. A.
Right arrow Articles by Abreu, D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Zellner, D. A.
Right arrow Articles by Abreu, D.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Masculinity/Femininity of Fine Fragrances Affects Color–Odor Correspondences: A Case for Cognitions Influencing Cross-Modal Correspondences

Debra A. Zellner, Amy McGarry, Rachel Mattern-McClory and Diana Abreu

Department of Psychology, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ 07043, USA

Correspondence to be sent to: Debra A. Zellner, Department of Psychology, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ 07043, USA. e-mail: zellnerd{at}mail.montclair.edu


  Abstract

Four experiments found that the colors people choose as corresponding to the odors of fine fragrances are influenced by the perceived masculinity/femininity of those fragrances. Experiment 1 examined the colors chosen for 3 male and 3 female fragrances. The pattern of colors chosen for female fragrances differed from that for male fragrances. Experiments 2 and 3 found that colors assigned to 2 unisex fragrances depend on whether subjects thought that the fragrances were male or female fragrances. Experiment 4, by labeling unisex fragrances as male or female, showed that this difference in color selection was the result of subjects' thinking that a fragrance is a male or female fragrance. Thinking of the masculinity/femininity of a fragrance influences the selection of colors that corresponds to these odors.

Key words: color, cross-modal correspondences, femininity, masculinity, odor, synesthesia

Accepted 2 November 2007


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.