Dead body or yummy bacon? Gender and perceived intensity outweigh odor label in eliciting disgust

Disgustingness is an under-researched odor property distinct from unpleasantness, but like hedonic valence, it is likely susceptible to cognitive modulation. Beliefs about odor identity related to potential pathogenic risk can lead to markedly contrasting odor perception, including perceived disgustingness, compared to when the odor is not regarded as suggestive of pathogenicity. We hypothesized that applying a pathogenic label would significantly increase disgust, especially for intense odors. We presented 90 healthy Czech young adults with four unpleasant, realistic smells reminiscent of decomposing flesh and used as fish attractors. The participants rated the odors for perceived disgustingness, pleasantness, intensity, and familiarity, and performed an odor naming task. The results revealed that applying a pathogenic label significantly increased disgust ratings (R² = 0.03) but that gender (R² = 0.10) and perceived odor intensity (R² = 0.09) were more influential predictors of disgustingness. These findings suggest that for aversive but ambiguous odors, the influence of bottom-up sensory processing and raters' individual characteristics may outweigh top-down cognitive labeling in driving the disgust response.