“A lot of people think that the perception of pleasantness is totally subjective, and you just learn it. They think that the food preferences you have are part of your upbringing and what your culture eats,” said Rehan Khan, a research scientist in the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at UC Berkeley. “That is true, but a significant part of what people find to be pleasant and unpleasant turns out to be the same anywhere on the planet and may reflect something about molecules themselves.”
— from Pleasant Odors Perceived The Same By Different Cultures in Science Daily, with thanks to Ruth for the link.
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Thanks – that was really interesting! I love reading about the biological reasons behind such emotional reactions. The basic animal instincts to stay away from things (and food/water) that have gone bad and to crave the scents of home and family – just facinate me. I was looking through perfume reviews on makeup alley the other day and was just so surprised at how differently (from each other) we smell things! Nice to know we all agree on some things!
It is an interesting article. I was disappointed that they really didn't include people from many different cultures/backgrounds. Somebody needs to do the same study with a bigger sample!