The Scent of Desire: Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell
Why do some people like a certain aroma and others hate it? Is smell personal or cultural? How does it affect our choices and our actions?
The Scent of Desire is the definitive psychological study of the importance of smell in our lives, from nourishment to procreation to our relationships with other people and the world at large. Located in the same part of the brain that processes emotion, memory, and motivation, this most essential of senses is imperative to our physical and emotional well-being. It was crucial to our ancestors' existence and it remains so today, profoundly shaping our emotional, physical, and even sexual lives.
One of the world's leading experts on the psychology of smell, Rachel Herz investigates how smell functions, what purpose it serves, and how inextricably it is linked to our survival in this compelling, surprising, delightfully informative appreciation of the wonders of this sadly neglected sense.
What You'll Discover
This paperback edition examines the intricate connections between smell and human behavior. Rachel Herz draws on extensive research to explain how olfactory processing influences everything from food preferences to mate selection. The book explores whether scent preferences are innate or learned, and how cultural backgrounds shape our responses to different aromas.
Published by William Morrow & Company, this psychological exploration reveals how smell affects decision-making, emotional responses, and interpersonal relationships. The research-backed insights demonstrate why this sense, often overlooked compared to sight and hearing, plays such a fundamental role in human survival and daily experience.
