People easily disgusted by body odors seem to prefer authoritarian leaders and were likelier to support US President Donald Trump, a study into the origins of ideology suggested yesterday.
The seemingly obscure link might be rooted in a deep-seated instinct to avoid disease — whether in people whose smell suggests they are germ-carriers, or “unfamiliar” people, such as immigrants or minorities, it said.
The study results “contribute to the growing evidence that contemporary social attitudes may be rooted in basic sensory functions,” the researchers wrote.
In two online surveys, the team asked people in several countries a series of questions to determine their level of “body odor disgust sensitivity,” as well as their position on the political spectrum.
They were looking for signs of “right-wing authoritarianism,” which study author Marco Liuzza from Italy’s Magna Graecia University summarized as an attitude “promoting aggressive policies toward groups perceived as deviant or threatening traditional values.”
Analysis of the data revealed a “solid connection” between how strongly people reacted to body smells and their desire for a leader who can keep groups of people “in their places,” coauthor Jonas Olofsson of Stockholm University said.
In a third test with US participants, the researchers looked for a correlation between body odor sensitivity and support for Trump.
The study, published in the Royal Society journal Open Science, was conducted when Trump and former US secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton were rival candidates for the presidency.
The results “showed that people who were more disgusted by smells were also more likely to vote for Donald Trump than those who were less sensitive,” Olofsson said.
“We thought that was interesting, because Donald Trump talks frequently about how different people disgust him... It fits with our hypothesis that his supporters would be more easily disgusted themselves,” he said.
Disgust is a survival tool that helps humans avoid health threats.
It can also be triggered by non-infectious stimuli, including by people who “deviate” from the societal norm, whether it be physically, morally or with their sexual preferences.
Smells listed in the questionnaires included breath, sweat, feet, feces, urine and gas — the participants’ own and that of strangers.
Political questions tested a participant’s stand on issues, such as abortion, pornography, religion and morality in general, as well as whether they intended to vote for Trump.
Theorizing on the connection with body odor recoil, Olofsson proposed that living in an authoritarian society “reduces contact among different groups and, at least in theory, decreases the chances of becoming ill.”
The study of authoritarianism was important “as it appears relevant to explain current political trends,” the team said.
“Our findings highlight body odor disgust as a new and promising domain in political psychology research,” they wrote.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese