Emotional valence, not arousal, influences taste perception

Emotional states influence taste perception, yet the knowledge to fully explain this phenomenon remains insufficient. This study investigated this influence in two parts: Experiment 1 focused on the effects of valence and arousal based on the circumplex model of emotions, while Experiment 2 explored a possible mechanism behind valence effects through semantic priming. In Experiment 1, four emotional states were assumed based on valence (positive-negative), arousal (high arousal-low arousal), and taste intensity was measured after evoking each state using video stimuli. In Experiment 2, we investigated the possibility that the influence of emotional valence on taste perception occurs through semantic priming mediated by the association between emotion-taste concepts. Initially, a cognitive task was conducted to modulate the strength of participants' conceptual associations between emotions and taste qualities. Subsequently, the effect on taste perception following the presentation of either positive or negative auditory stimuli was examined. The results confirmed that emotional valence, rather than arousal, influences the intensity of sweetness and bitterness. Consistent with prior research, the study also verified that the patterns of taste perception change due to emotional states differ between sweetness and bitterness. In particular, the perception of bitterness was found to be intensified by negative emotion through semantic priming, which is mediated by a conceptual association between negative emotion and bitterness.