The effect of different affective arousal levels on taste perception

Abstract

The emotions we experience shape our perception, and our emotion is shaped by our perceptions. Taste perception is also influenced by emotions. Positive and negative emotions alter sweetness, sourness, and bitterness perception. However, most previous studies mainly explored valence changes. The effect of arousal on taste perception is less studied. In this study, we asked volunteers to watch positive affect inducing videos with high arousal and low arousal. Our results showed a successful induction of high and low arousal levels as confirmed by self-report and electrophysiological signals. Moreover, self-report affective ratings did not show a significant effect on self-reported taste ratings. However, we found a negative correlation between smile occurrence and sweetness ratings. In addition, EDA scores were positively correlated with saltiness. This suggests that even if the self-reported affective state is not granular enough, looking at more fine-grained affective cues can inform ratings of taste.