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Testing a Curvilinear Relationship between Chemosensory Responsivity and Avoidance Motivation

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Abstract

Approach and avoidance motivations underlie much of human behavior. This paper examines an as-yet under-investigated contributor to those motivations – chemosensory responsivity. Based on the logic that the chemical senses help the perceiver to detect ecological threats, we predicted that individual differences in chemosensory responsivity may predict approach-avoidance motivations. Specifically, because people with below or above average sensory responsivity may be unable to reliably discriminate threats from nonthreats in their environment, they may consequently adopt a compensatory shift from approach to avoidance motivations. The current project tested for such a curvilinear relationship between chemosensory responsivity and approach-avoidance motivation. In Study 1, chemosensory responsivity was indexed by combined performance on the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test with detection of bitterness in a taste strip containing phenylthiocarbamide. Approach versus avoidance motivation was measured with the line bisection task. Study 2 provided a conceptual replication using self-report measures. Study 3 used a new psychophysical measure directly assessing olfactory detection thresholds, and extended the investigation to perceptions of threat-related facial expressions. In all three studies, results revealed a quadratic effect of sensory responsivity on approach-avoidance motivation, such that participants scoring relatively low or relatively high on sensory responsivity displayed higher levels of avoidance-related cognition. Elucidating the link between sensory processing and general motivational orientations has the potential to inform understanding of higher-order social cognitive functioning.

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Notes

  1. Following Cohen, Cohen, West and Aiken (2003), we tested for influential data points by computing Cook’s Distance for overall influence and DFBETAS for individual regression coefficients. The most extreme scores for Cook’s Distance (.22), and the DFBETAS for the linear term (.002) and quadratic term (.003) all fell within acceptable ranges.

  2. Following Cohen et al. (2003), we tested for influential data points by computing Cook’s Distance for overall influence and DFBETAS for individual regression coefficients. The most extreme scores for Cook’s Distance (.29), and the DFBETAS for the linear term (−.41) and quadratic term (.43) all fell within acceptable ranges.

  3. We conducted ancillary analyses to examine the effect of CSS on the separate BAS and BIS scales. Regressing BAS on CSS and its square yielded a marginal linear effect (β = .22, t(71) = 1.91, p = .06, rpartial = .22), and a marginal quadratic effect in the predicted direction (β = −.20, t(71) = −1.76, p = .08, rpartial = −.20). For BIS, analyses yielded no significant linear (β = .08, t(71) = .71, p = .48, rpartial = .08) or quadratic effects (β = .15, t(71) = 1.29, p = .20, rpartial = .15), although the quadratic effect was again in the predicted direction.

  4. Following Cohen et al. (2003), we tested for influential data points by computing Cook’s Distance for overall influence and DFBETAS for individual regression coefficients. The most extreme scores for Cook’s Distance (.16), and the DFBETAS for the linear term (−.46) and quadratic term (−.55) all fell within acceptable ranges. This was also true for the analysis on threat emotion errors: Cook’s Distance (.07), DFBETAS linear (−.35) and quadratic (.33) terms.

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  1. Adam J. Fay and Emily R. Bovier contributed equally to this work.

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  1. Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Oswego, 7060 State Route 104, Oswego, NY, 13126, USA

    Adam J. Fay & Emily R. Bovier

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  1. Adam J. Fay
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Correspondence to Adam J. Fay or Emily R. Bovier.

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Fay, A.J., Bovier, E.R. Testing a Curvilinear Relationship between Chemosensory Responsivity and Avoidance Motivation. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology 4, 207–222 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40750-018-0088-1

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