| Abstract: | More than 200 males and females estimated the identifiabilityof 80 common odorous objects (e.g., chocolate, beer, mustard,rubber). The two genders agreed rather closely in their estimates.The groups also agreed closely in their relative judgementsof whether males or females could identify the objects better.Both groups anticipated that males would be superior for onlya small number of substances, mainly substances that seem stereotypically‘male’ (e.g., cigar butts, beer, machine oil). Thegroups anticipated female superiority for not only stereotypically‘female’ substances (e.g., Ivory soap, Johnson'sbaby powder, nail polish remover), but also for virtually allfoods, including foods presumably consumed equally by both sexes(e.g., potato chips, Juicy Fruit gum, grape drink). The resultssuggested the existence of a second stereotype, namely thatfemales will be superior at identifying all substances not clearlyin the male domain. An experiment that explored the performanceof 46 males and females over five sessions revealed generalfemale superiority. The superiority extended to odors considered‘male’. Males seemed educable and could apparentlyovercome their disadvantage eventually with merely some helpin the retrieval of odor names. Blockage of retrieval seemsa strong limiting factor in odor identification for femalesas well as for males. Irrespective of gender, when persons havethe veridical name of a well-known odor made available by oneor another means, they exhibit considerable talent at identifyingobjects by smell.
1Supported by NIH Grant ES 00592 |
