Sniffing the mood for cooperation: Personality and odor induced affective states effects

Abstract

Abstract The paper explores situational and dispositional underpinnings of cooperative behavior. According to psychological research, cooperation is strongly related to affective states (Forgas, 1998) and personality dimensions (Volk, Thöni, & Ruigrok, 2011). In an experimental study we examined the conditions under which people cooperate with each other. The dispositional traits of co-workers (personality), the contribution to a collaborative effort, and a situational factor – ambient odor condition were taken into consideration. A one-way ANOVA revealed that compared to a malodorous condition, both the pleasant odor condition and the natural odor condition showed higher rates of cooperation. Further analysis indicated that only malodors influenced affective states which in turn determined social decisions. Although we found effects for the participants’ agreeableness and the coworker’s contribution to a joint work, they appeared to play a less critical role than affective states induced by the experimental odor conditions tested here.