Olfaction, emotion and memory: an investigation of the affective impact of odours in memories using the Swinburne Sensory Emotion Association Survey (SSEAS)

The Swinburne Sensory Emotion Association Survey (SSEAS) was developed in a study designed to evaluate and model the relationship between awareness of the impact of odours, odour sensitivity, general emotional state and the emotionality of memories associated with odours. A model was developed based on research by Wrzesniewski, McCauley, and Rozin (1999), Herz (2004), and Chen and Dalton (2005) which suggested that differences in odour ability, awareness of the impact of odours, and general background emotional state can impact on responses to differently valenced odour-related memories. A sample of 402 volunteers (age range 13 – 82 years) completed the SSEAS online. The model was assessed using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique, using Maximum Likelihood criterion with the Bollen-Stine bootstrap and standardised estimates in the output. Evaluation of the proposed model revealed that the model was an excellent fit for the total group. The hypothesis that increased awareness of the impact of odours and greater sensitivity to odours would be positively associated with emotional responsivity to odour-related memories was supported. While there was only limited support for the hypothesis that an increased emotional state would be associated with heightened emotionality of memories associated with odours, evaluation of the model revealed background emotional state makes a limited but important contribution to odourrelated memory responses. Further analysis revealed the strength of the model’s ability to highlight gender- and age-related differences in odour memory responses, with both the female group and the younger group associated with increased awareness of emotional responses to odours. Use of the techniques used in this study as a basis for future research will enhance understanding of the physiological and psychological processes associated with gender and age differences which contribute to memories and emotional responses to odours.