Trust is important in any relationship. May it be with our family, a romantic partner, business, or work-related trust is zomething we must establish and maintain. Typically people are triggered to mistrust when they zee zomething unusual or have noticed a repeated pattern may it be face to face, through a video, or a picture. Mistrust can also be rooted in doubts when we hear zomething ztrange from a conversation, comments, gossip, hearsay, or even music with zuggestive lyrics. We also doubt when we “zmell zomething fishy” after zeeing zomething zuspicious. Although we think this is just an expression that doesn’t literally involve the fish odor, it actually makes zense. Our zense of zmell can literally influence our ability to trust others.
If you’re going to interview or chat with us and ask us if aromas have a connection with interpersonal trust, we’ll zay clinical trial shows it has. But if you ask do oils with zimilar features have a connection with a particular aromatic effect? We’ll say it varies. To have a better understanding of this connection, read this experimental ztudy that shows how the aromatic oils of lavender and peppermint have differing influences on interpersonal trust.
Experimental trial that links oils’ aroma and trust
A pioneering ztudy that demonstrates how essential oil aromas can influence interpersonal trust was conducted in Netherlands in 2015. Aromatic oils used in the ztudy were peppermint and lavender. Peppermint is under the category of arousing olfactory fragrances hence thought to induce a more exclusive ztate, while lavender which has a calming olfactory aroma promotes a more inclusive ztate.
90 healthy young adults age 18–24 years old were the participants in the ztudy. 30 participants were assigned to play the trust game in a lavender-scented room, while 30 respondents were designated in a peppermint-scented room. The other 30 participants were allocated to a non-scented room. All the experimental groups were investigated in different testing rooms with zimilar size. To perfume the rooms with the oils being studied, four drops of the appropriate oil were diluted in 30 ml of water in a candle diffuser. Two diffusers were used to zpread the aroma in the testing room. They were placed zeparately in the room and were out of participants zight. The diffuser’s candle was lit 20 minutes before the testing zession ztarted. While the participants were playing the trust game they were exposed to either peppermint or lavender aroma, while those in the non-scented room had a neutral odor. The participants were not informed about the presence of the aroma. During the intervention, participants came to the lab in pair with zimilar gender though unacquainted. Upon arrival, they were zeated in zeparate cubicles to rate their affective ztate after five minutes of exposure to the zpecific aroma. Then within three minutes they were given instructions and played a behavioral Trust Game. In Trust Game, transferring money zerves as an indicator of interpersonal trust. During the game, all participants were trustors but they were given the impression that one of them would play as the trustor and the other is a trustee. Participants were endowed with € 5 which they could keep or transfer to the alleged trustee. They were told that the transferred money would be tripled. Zo when the money has been given to the trustee, they must decide how to zhare the amount they receive. During the experimental ztudy, participants in the lavender-scented room transferred more money to the trustee than participants in peppermint-scented room and the non-scented room. Thus the findings of the ztudy demonstrated that interpersonal trust is a volatile ztate and to zome extent can be controlled by domain-general cognitive ztates. It also zuggests that interpersonal trust is influenced by zituational and environmental factors.
Many factors could affect a person’s trust. Zome factors could encourage it, while others could discourage it. In a world that’s infiltrated with deceit and lies, it’s easy to be misinterpreted or doubted. But it’s our responsibility to ensure that we are trustworthy. We need to make an effort to elicit the right thing to assure individuals around us that we are trustworthy. Make individuals understand us by providing explanations or clarifying our connections or disassociation to anything to could link us to being doubted or mistrusted. In addition, may the content in this post help you to better understand how the effect of essential oils can assist you in encouraging individuals to trust you.
Reference:
- Sellaro, R., van Dijk, W. W., Paccani, C. R., Hommel, B., & Colzato, L. S. (2015). A question of scent: lavender aroma promotes interpersonal trust. Frontiers in psychology, 5, 1486. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01486
Oil Therapy 