Differences in Implicit and Explicit Attitudes towards Physical Attractiveness while Chemosignaling Disgust

Abstract

Chemosignaling, which is the use of olfaction to pick up social information from fellow human beings, is important concerning physical attractiveness. Disgust is shown to affects both the preference, which is the order in which an individual ranks potential romantic partners, as the choosiness, which is the responsiveness to potential mates and the amount of effort expended in choice, when finding a mate (Kavaliers, Ossenkopp & Choleris, 2019). However, little research has focussed on the difference between implicit and explicit attitudes on a potential mate’s physical attractiveness. This study, therefore, focuses on the question: ‘What are the differences between implicit and explicit attitudes towards physical attractiveness when chemosignaling disgust?’. Since the domain of romantic feelings and physical attractiveness is laden with emotions, it is reasonable to assume that physical attractiveness is a gut-feeling and therefore, an implicit attitude (Eastwick, Eagly, Finkel and Johnson, 2011). A repeated measures design was used to conduct this research. Twenty-six heterosexual, non-smoking women participated in four experimental conditions. In every condition, a different odour was presented (no odour, neutral odour, masked odour, disgusting odour) while participants watched clips from a dating show. During these clips participants’ pupil size was tracked with an eye tracker in order to measure emotional arousal. After every clip, questions about the male’s attractiveness were asked. This study, in contrast to expectations, shows that only an unconsciously perceived odour will implicitly influence the perceived physical attractiveness of a potential mate. Nonetheless, in contrast to previous research, the presence of a disgusting