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Perfume masks womens' weight
news.com.au ^ | May 16, 2003 | By Judy Skatssoon

Posted on 05/15/2003 9:53:48 AM PDT by HuntsvilleTxVeteran

THE perfume diet may be the next big thing after researchers found men think women weigh less if they smell of flowers than if they smell of pizza.

In fact, a 10-year US study has found that pleasant, floral-spice perfume makes women appear 5kg lighter in the eyes of the opposite sex.

Other odours, including butterscotch, cigarette smoke, grapefruit and pepperoni pizza don't have the same effect.

The floral-spice scent acted as "the olfactory equivalent to vertical lines", said Chicago neurologist and psychiatrist Alan Hirsch, who presented his findings at a meeting of the Association for Chemoreception Sciences in Florida.

As part of the study researchers sprayed a 1.75m tall, 111kg cosmetic saleswoman with a variety of fragrances.

The woman was then sent out on separate days to approach men in various locations and ask them to guess her weight.

Two hundred males aged between 12 and 61 were surveyed.

"Wearing a floral spice odour can reduce a woman's perceived weight by as much as 7 per cent," Dr Hirsch said.

He said the study was consistent with research showing smells can influence human behaviour.

For example, a previous study had shown women who smelled of cinnamon and lavender were perceived to be more intelligent, successful and trustworthy, he said.

Associate Professor Graham Bell, director of the Centre for ChemoSensory Research at the University of NSW, said Dr Hirsch's findings should not be dismissed.

"If someone was wearing a pleasant perfume it's quite possible that an attitude would click into place," he said.

Dr Hirsch said floral odours had been shown to increase blood flow to the penis, so perception of the woman may have been influenced by sexual arousal.


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: babe; clinton; daschle; democrat; du; fatwoman; fox; jfk; magic; perfume
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To: HuntsvilleTxVeteran
""women always get pretty-er at closing time""

Oh, I've been there, but refuse to admit the 'done that' part. LOL

21 posted on 05/15/2003 11:13:06 AM PDT by Badray (Molon Labe!)
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To: SoothingDave
And your point about the oddly colored Kool-Aid is?

The study isn't bunk, as the example of varying perceptions of soda flavor when only the color was actually changed, verified over and over again when the study was run by and with the psych classes here, shows. Extraneous sensory perceptions can change other preceptions (at the cognitive level).

Quite possibly the effect is to push perceived weight toward an ideal weight, so that a somewhat anorexic woman might be perceived as heavier, while those above the 'ideal' would be perceived as lighter. A better study could tell. Nonetheless controlled psychological experiments are not 'bunk', even when their results support not only the most obvious interpretation but other competing ones (like the one I just proposed) as well.

22 posted on 05/15/2003 11:18:08 AM PDT by The_Reader_David
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To: The_Reader_David
"Read closer..."

Perhaps I could have written more clearly, but I meant the men, not the researcher. I was just saying that my thoughts matched the researcher's last comment regarding sexual arousal. She smells nice, guy gets turned on, won't admit 'fat' girl turns him on and estimates her weight at a lower figure.

23 posted on 05/15/2003 11:18:37 AM PDT by Badray (Molon Labe!)
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To: HuntsvilleTxVeteran
Well, the waddler who sat next to me on the bus the other day was evidently trying to convince us she was anorexic. One spark and the whole durn thing would have looked like the Hindenburg disaster.
24 posted on 05/15/2003 11:22:55 AM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: Badray
Possibly. But you are proposing a specific causal mechanism for the observation made. If the underestimation occurs consciously, it isn't very interesting. If unconciously by a mechanism of the sort you suggest, it is more interesting. If unconciously by a mechanism competely analogous to that in the soda experiment it's most interesting.

Now the trick for the good professor is to design an experiment to distinguish between the three.

25 posted on 05/15/2003 11:24:42 AM PDT by The_Reader_David
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To: The_Reader_David
And your point about the oddly colored Kool-Aid is?

That is jibes with your study. It is quite strange to first taste a red liquid and to discern that it tastes "purple" (grape).

The study isn't bunk, as the example of varying perceptions of soda flavor when only the color was actually changed, verified over and over again when the study was run by and with the psych classes here, shows. Extraneous sensory perceptions can change other preceptions (at the cognitive level).

Maybe the study is somewhat useful, but the conclusion is bunk. It may be that a nice smell puts people in a more charitable mood when guessing the wiehgt of a large woman. That is a reasonable conclusion, not as the headline says that "Perfume masks womens' weight."

One would need to repaet the study with different sized subjects before such a conclusion can be made.

SD

26 posted on 05/15/2003 11:30:57 AM PDT by SoothingDave
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To: HuntsvilleTxVeteran
As part of the study researchers sprayed a 1.75m tall, 111kg cosmetic saleswoman with a variety of fragrances.

5'9" 245 lb woman.

"Wearing a floral spice odour can reduce a woman's perceived weight by as much as 7 per cent," Dr Hirsch said.

7% of 245 lb is approx. 17 lb.

So at one point, some random guy guessed her weight as being around 230 lb?

27 posted on 05/15/2003 11:34:52 AM PDT by k2blader (Haruspex, beware.)
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To: HuntsvilleTxVeteran
Perfume masks womens' weight

Will stripes make them smell any better then?

28 posted on 05/15/2003 11:37:03 AM PDT by johniegrad
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To: SoothingDave
Agree! 244 lbs and only 5'8" tall is very chunky. Not an average woman even in USA.
29 posted on 05/15/2003 11:40:13 AM PDT by Frankss
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To: SoothingDave
[G]uessing the weight of a 244 pound woman is not exactly an everyday task. Line up some more normal sized (120 - 150 lb) women and see what happens.

It's more likely that the floral scent makes men more polite!

30 posted on 05/15/2003 11:41:40 AM PDT by Redcloak (All work and no FReep makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no FReep make s Jack a dul boy. Allwork an)
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To: HuntsvilleTxVeteran
These egg-heads have the right idea but are using the wrong formula!

The correct formula (by way of illustration) follows:

Anyone challenge me??

31 posted on 05/15/2003 12:19:48 PM PDT by daylate-dollarshort (http://www.strato.net/~cmranch)
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To: SoothingDave
"Read closer: the conclusion is base on 200 males surveyed..."

Not only that- they appear to be Aussies!

32 posted on 05/15/2003 12:29:51 PM PDT by daylate-dollarshort (http://www.strato.net/~cmranch)
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To: Badray
There's another bar axiom: Go ugly early!
33 posted on 05/15/2003 12:33:50 PM PDT by daylate-dollarshort (http://www.strato.net/~cmranch)
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To: daylate-dollarshort
Not only that- they appear to be Aussies!

Not quite:

In fact, a 10-year US study has found that

Granted, if you took 200 American men and asked them how many kilograms an average woman weighed you results would vary greatly. But that is only because most have no idea how big a kilogram is.

SD

34 posted on 05/15/2003 12:34:36 PM PDT by SoothingDave
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To: The_Reader_David
"If unconciously by a mechanism of the sort you suggest, it is more interesting."

If a one time thing, it is done almost autonomically. Mostly after the (deed) fact. It's a self defense mechanism to protect yourself from the memory that you were with someone like that. It is easier on the memory and the senses (and in war stories) to tell yourself that she was well built and a little ugly than pretty and fat. If done enough times, then it may be a conscious behavior.

But mostly, TRD, I'm having fun with this and you. Enjoy it without too much thought being put into it.

35 posted on 05/15/2003 1:54:57 PM PDT by Badray (Molon Labe!)
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To: daylate-dollarshort
Reminds me of the joke about the foreign legion and ugly camels.
36 posted on 05/15/2003 2:02:00 PM PDT by Badray (Molon Labe!)
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To: Billthedrill
Well, the waddler who sat next to me on the bus the other day was evidently trying to convince us she was anorexic. One spark and the whole durn thing would have looked like the Hindenburg disaster.

And you don't mean the bus.

Bada-BOOM!

37 posted on 05/16/2003 6:31:40 AM PDT by Erasmus
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