You may be surprised to hear there is actually something called the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago. And a doctor there, Dr. Alan Hirsch has done some very interesting studies concerning scents and weight perception.The study that came out a few years ago proved that wearing certain scents might actually help a person reduce their weight.
But the latest reseach by Dr. Hirsch shows a connection between the scent a woman wears and a man's perception of how much she weighs.
The study used one female model and 199 male volunteers 12 to 61 years old divided into 4 groups.
Each of the three male groups were assigned a certain scent and the fourth group was the control group. The scent assigned to group one was citrus floral, group two was a mixture of sweet pea and lily of the valley and three was a combination of floral and spices.
Each day one of the scents was sprayed on the model and one of the male subgroups plus the control group was asked to estimate her weight. With the citrus floral and combination of sweet pea and lily of the valley there was no difference in weight perception. But with the floral and spices scent the woman was perceived to be 4.1 pounds thinner and if the male found the scent pleasant she was perceived to be up to 12 pounds thinner than her acutal weight!
While the whole point of this study may seem to have nominal value or health benefit, Dr. Hirsch does have a point when he says that women who preceive themselves to be leaner than they are or are perceived to weigh less by others tend to be more socially active or confident which might lead to more participation in healthy activities like exercise and socialization.
I'm just wondering if the perfume companies are taking note and we'll soon see ads for the scent that makes you 12 lbs thinner overnight--and if so will there be a stampede to the perfume counter??
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