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Chemical Senses Advance Access originally published online on July 11, 2008
Chemical Senses 2008 33(8):725-734; doi:10.1093/chemse/bjn038
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

The Odor Awareness Scale: A New Scale for Measuring Positive and Negative Odor Awareness

Monique A.M. Smeets1, Hendrik N.J. Schifferstein2, Sarai R. Boelema3 and Gerty Lensvelt-Mulders4

1 Clinical and Health Psychology, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, 35&4 CS, Utrecht, the Netherlands 2 Department of Industrial Design, Delft University of Technology, Landbergstraat 15, 2628 CE, Delft, the Netherlands 3 Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 2, 3584 CS, Utrecht, the Netherlands 4 Methodology and Statistics, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS, Utrecht, the Netherlands

Correspondence to be sent to: Monique A.M. Smeets, Clinical and Health Psychology, Utrecht University, PO Box 80.140, 3508 TC, Utrecht, the Netherlands. e-mail: m.a.m.smeets{at}uu.nl


  Abstract

The Odor Awareness Scale (OAS) is a questionnaire designed to assess individual differences in awareness of odors in the environment. The theory that odor awareness can be distinguished in awareness of negative (to be avoided) odors and positive (to be approached) odors was tested using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the 34-item questionnaire after completion by 525 respondents. CFA (after deletion of 2 items) showed good fit of the 2-factor theory, resulting in a positive awareness subscale (11 items, Cronbach's {alpha} = .77) and a negative awareness subscale (21 items, Cronbach's {alpha} = .80). Furthermore, reports of sickness from environmental odors were correlated with the negative odor awareness factor, not the positive odor awareness factor. Respondents scoring high on the overall sum score of the OAS showed significantly better olfactory performance on an odor perception test battery than respondents with a low score. These results suggest a causal relation between awareness of potentially negative odors, olfactory performance and experiencing health effects from environmental odor exposure, that warrants further investigation.

Key words: attention, awareness, factor analysis, health symptoms, metacognition, odor perception

Accepted 11 June 2008


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