Diskuze v psychologii 2022, 4(1):35-43 | DOI: 10.5507/dvp.2022.005

Smell the personality: the relationship between scent preferences and personal traits

Filip Janči, Michaela Sotáková

Today' s perfumeries base their marketing strategies on attributing odors to a certain category of people. Ener­getic or tranquil in nature, they can easily find the scent for themselves. However, the question remains as to whether the relationship between personality and preference for particular types of odors is based on fact and as to whether it is merely a marketing narrative. In our work, we have focused on examining the relationship of personality traits using the Big Five model and the preferences of the four basic fragrance categories. The research sample consisted of 53 participants, 25 male and 28 female, aged 18-43 (M = 23,7, SD = 4,75), who were presented with individual fragrances and their preferences were recorded. The results did not support any of the a priori hypotheses formulated, suggesting that the relationship is rather free, although a post-hoc analysis has revealed a certain relationship between fragrance preferences, neuroticism and consciousness, while we have also noted some gender differences.

Keywords: Big Five, personality, odor, perfume

Received: November 29, 2022; Revised: November 29, 2022; Accepted: December 13, 2022; Published: September 7, 2023  Show citation

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Janči F, Sotáková M. Smell the personality: the relationship between scent preferences and personal traits. Diskuze v psychologii. 2022;4(1):35-43. doi: 10.5507/dvp.2022.005.
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