Although human smell functions, in part, to detect disease and mate quality and is the sensory modality most strongly tied to disgust, its role in social cognition and behavior remains largely understudied. The current study investigated the relationship between olfactory acuity, disgust sensitivity, and prejudice toward outgroups heuristically linked to disease (i.e., overweight, gay male, older targets) using the Sniffin’ Sticks extended test among a non-clinical sample (N = 170). Based on pilot data, higher acuity was predicted to be associated with higher sexual disgust sensitivity. Both higher acuity and sexual disgust sensitivity were also predicted to be related to greater outgroup prejudice. Results found smell acuity to be positively, though not significantly related to sexual disgust. Contrary to original predictions, smell was negatively (though non-significantly) associated with outgroup prejudice for all measures except for ageism—higher acuity significantly correlated with less ageist beliefs. Furthermore, sexual disgust was not significantly related to any explicit prejudice measures, but exploratory analyses revealed a potential relationship with some less explicit measures. Current study limitations and future considerations for research investigating the role of smell and disgust in intergroup prejudice are discussed.
