Is the trait trustingness affected the effect of fishy (vs unpleasant, and neutral) odors on suspicion, creative reasoning, and perceptions of other’s trustworthiness?

In the nose, not in the beholder: Embodied cognition effects override individual differences. Prem Sebastian, LeahKaufmann, and Xochitl de la Piedad Garcia. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313997207_In_the_nose_not_in_the_beholder_Embodied_cognition_effects_override_individual_differences


Lee and Schwarz (2012) found a relationship between fishy odor and suspicion.
• Study 2: Students in a hallway sprayed with fish smell invested significantly less in an economic game relying on trust compared to students in either a fart spray or control condition.

Lee, Kim and Schwarz (2015) also found that a fishy odor affected critical reasoning via suspicion.
• Study 2: Participants exposed to an incidental fishy odor were more likely utilise negative hypothesis testing, and avoid confirmation bias, than those in a control condition as demonstrated by performance on the Wason would provide the first evidence of an interaction between metaphorical effects and individual differences.

These studies demonstrated the effect of the embodied metaphor of fishiness.

To date, embodied cognition has focussed on effects observed in moment-to-moment bodily states. However, it seems likely individual differences may affect the extent to which bodily states are affected by embodied effects. For example, is the degree to which fishy odor motivates suspicion a function of participant’s own trustingness?

The interaction between individual differences and embodied effects have yet to be considered.

The aim of the current study was to examine whether trait trustingness affected the effect of fishy (vs unpleasant, and neutral) odors on suspicion, creative reasoning, and perceptions of other’s trustworthiness.