JP2023097180A - Determination method of emotional state and/or biological state - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a method capable of determining an emotional state and/or a biological state of a subject more accurately with a simple method.SOLUTION: The method includes: determining a personality attribute of a subject on the basis of predetermined personality classification; allowing the subject to smell predetermined flavor to acquire a perception result of the subject with respect to the predetermined flavor; and determining the emotional state and/or the biological state of the subject on the basis of the personality attribute and the perception result.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a method for determining an emotional state and/or a biological state.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, it has been known to use scents or odors for diagnosing the biological condition of a subject. For example, Patent Document 1 classifies aromatic components that are the main components of an olfactory stimulus, associates the classification with the effect on the biological state, determines the degree of discomfort that the olfactory stimulus gives to the subject, and determines the degree of odor. Assignment of a correlation coefficient between the classification of the main component of the stimulus and the effect on the biological state is changed according to the relative level of the discomfort level, and for each classification, the subject's biological condition based on the correlation coefficient A method is described that includes generating graphical information for illustrating states.

Japanese Patent No. 5536272

However, in the method described in Patent Document 1, it is essential for the subject to smell and rank a plurality of classifications (eight types in the example) of olfactory stimuli in one diagnosis. Subjects may find it cumbersome.

In view of the above points, it is an object of one aspect of the present invention to provide a method that can more accurately determine the emotional state and/or biological state of a subject using a simple method.

One aspect of the present invention for solving the above problems is a method for determining a subject's emotional state and/or biological state, wherein the determination method determines a subject's personality attributes based on a predetermined personality classification. , causing the subject to smell a predetermined scent, acquiring the subject's perception result of the predetermined scent, and determining the subject's emotional state and/or biological state based on the personality attribute and the perception result Including judging.

According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to more accurately determine the emotional state and/or biological state of a subject using a simple method.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a determination method according to one embodiment; FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of preparation steps for a determination method according to one embodiment;

[Method for Determining Subject's Emotional State and/or Biological State]
One embodiment of the present invention is a method for determining a subject's condition based on a correlation between a scent and a subject's perception of the scent. Here, the present inventors particularly focused on the personality of the person to be judged, and discovered an approach that utilizes personality classification. In addition, the inventors have found that the scent that can effectively determine the condition of a person to be determined differs depending on the personality of the person to be determined. Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is possible to more easily and accurately determine the predetermined emotional state and/or biological state of the person to be judged by proceeding with the judgment after grasping the personality of the person to be judged. . In the present embodiment, there is no need for the person to be judged to smell a wide variety of scents and rank them in a single judgment, so that the person to be judged does not have an excessive burden.

A determination method according to one embodiment is a method for determining the emotional state and/or biological state of a determination subject, in which personality attributes of the determination subject are determined based on a predetermined personality classification (S1), and a predetermined and acquires the perception result of the judgment subject with respect to the predetermined fragrance (S2), and judges the emotional state and/or biological state of the judgment subject based on the personality attribute and the perception result. (S3). FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of the determination method according to this embodiment. Each step in the determination method will be described below.

<Determination of personality attributes (S1)>
At the time of determination, first, the personality attribute of the person to be determined is determined (S1). Personality is an attribute unique to the subject, and is a tendency of personality or temperament of the subject to be judged.

The predetermined personality classification used for personality attribute determination (S1) is not particularly limited, but for example, a classification known in the field of psychology can be used. Specific examples of personality classifications that can be used include the Big Five described in Goldberg, L. R. (1990), An alternative "description of personality": The Big-Five factorstructure, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1216-1229. Big Five personality traits), namely, a five-factor classification of "openness", "conscientiousness", "extroversion", "agreeableness", and "neuroticism (emotional stability)".

When the above Big Five classification is used, the personality attributes of the predetermined judgment subject are, for example, "low extroversion, high neurotic tendency", "high extroversion, low diligence tendency", A temperament expressed by any combination of two or more of the five factors, such as "extroversion, high industriousness, low neuroticism" and "low extroversion, low openness" can be a trend. The number of classified personality attributes can be 2-6, preferably 3-5.

Such personality attributes can be set in advance prior to the determination method. For that purpose, it is possible to obtain data of a plurality of subjects in advance and use it. A plurality of subjects is preferably a group of people who have commonalities (including job, age, place of residence, race, etc.) with the subject of determination. In setting this personality attribute in advance, a question based on the personality classification used in the judgment method is prepared, the subject answers, and the answer is analyzed by cluster analysis etc., and the personality attribute can be set ( The preparatory work to be done prior to the determination method will be described in more detail later).

Determination (S1) of the personality attribute of the person to be judged in the judgment method according to this embodiment is to determine which of a plurality of preset (prepared) personality attributes the person to be judged applies to. including. In that case, questions and answers from questionnaires with similar contents, for example, can be used in the same manner as the technique used in setting personality attributes prior to the determination method. For example, to set the personality attributes in the preparation work, use the Big Five classification above, set one or more questions for each of the five factors, and ask them to answer whether they apply to the person to be judged. In this case, it is possible to ask the person to be judged about the five factors in the same way, obtain the answers in the same format, and compare them with the answer data obtained when setting the personality attributes previously. can. Personality attribute setting prior to the determination method according to this embodiment will be described in detail later.

<Acquisition of smell and perception results (S2)>
The predetermined scent to be smelled by the person to be judged can be selected according to the personality attribute of the person to be judged determined in determining the personality attribute (S1). The predetermined scent can also be determined according to the predetermined emotional and/or biological state to be determined. Therefore, the determination method according to this embodiment can include selecting a scent according to the personality attribute of the person to be determined after determining the personality attribute (S1). The scent smelled by the person to be judged may be one or more in one judgment.

The scent can be selected based on the correlation between the personality attribute, the scent, and the perception result of the scent, which are acquired in advance by preparatory work prior to the determination method according to the present embodiment. Thereby, the scent can be selected according to the personality attribute of the person to be judged, and according to the item of the psychological state and/or biological state to be judged. Therefore, in the determination method of the present embodiment, it is possible to efficiently and easily determine the predetermined psychological state and/or biological state of the person to be determined without the need for the person to be determined to smell and rank many scents. .

The scent used in the present embodiment is preferably one that is multifaceted, that is, one that does not make monotonous perception when smelling the scent. Therefore, it is preferable to avoid scents that most of the subjects perceive in the same way or that express their perceptions, such as scents that more than 90% of the subjects respond to as the same given food odor when smelling the scent.

The scent used may be a single chemical compound or a known or prepared perfume preparation. In addition, the concentration of the scent when the person to be judged is allowed to smell it can be appropriately adjusted according to the type of the scent sample. The method for making the person to be judged smell is also not particularly limited as long as it is unified. The scent may be dispersed in the room so that the concentrated scent reaches the nose of the person to be determined.

A judgment target person who has smelled the scent answers the perception of the scent in the form of a questionnaire, and the judgment person can obtain the target person's perception result from the answers. For perception, for example, one or more items of "preference (likes and dislikes)", "strength (strength)", "lightness/weight", and "sweetness" can be answered. Such items may be answered on a scale of 3 to 5, or on a visual analogue scale. In addition, the subjects can also be asked to answer the colors that they can imagine from the scent they smell. For example, one or more of lightness, saturation, and hue (according to the Munsell color system or the like), preferably lightness, may be selected from a plurality of stages and answered. Responses to the scent impression as a color may be made by asking the subject to point to the appropriate one on a color chart.

Furthermore, the person to be judged can also be asked to answer the scent tone of the fragrance. Fragrance is a type of fragrance expressed in words such as citrus, fruity, herb/green, floral, and woody. The person to be judged can be selected from 4 to 18 types. Note that when using scent tone as a response to the scent perception result, the place of residence, race, sex, age, etc. of the person to be determined may be considered. Also, the image describing the fragrance may be represented on a plane by a four-quadrant matrix or a nine-quadrant matrix using a two-axis reference. For example, one of the two axes may be set to a “light-rich” scale and the other to a “cool-sweet” scale, and the person to be judged may be asked to select a position on the plane. Alternatively, adjectives that apply to the four-quadrant matrix or the nine-quadrant matrix may be shown in advance, and the user can select one of them. Furthermore, you may be asked to answer freely about your impression of the scent.

<Determination of Emotional State and/or Biological State (S3)>
The answer regarding the perception of the person to be judged obtained as described above can be quantified by scoring the answer result. The condition of the person to be judged can be determined in light of such quantified perception results. The determination can be made using the correlation between the result of perception of a predetermined scent and the predetermined emotional state and/or biological state, which is obtained in advance prior to the determination method according to the present embodiment.

According to this embodiment, it is possible to determine the emotional state of the person to be determined. The emotional state can also be said to be a psychological state or a state of mind at the time of judgment of the person to be judged. Emotional states to be judged are active pleasure, inactive pleasure, affinity, concentration, and startle, according to the Multifaceted Emotional State Scale (Shoji Terasaki et al., The Japanese Journal of Psychology, 1992, Vol.62, No.6, p350-356). , depression/anxiety, fatigue, and hostility. It may also be an emotion in which the above eight scales are embodied.

Further, according to this embodiment, the biological condition of the person to be determined can be determined. As used herein, biological state refers to the physiological state of the body as opposed to the emotional state described above. The biological condition may be the physical condition or the condition of a specific part of the body. The physical condition may be the overall physical condition of the person to be determined, or may be specific physical conditions such as appetite, coldness, and blood circulation. Moreover, the condition of the specific part of the body may be the condition of the skin, especially the skin condition of the face, or the condition of the specific part other than the skin, such as the condition of the hair, the condition of the nails, the condition of the eyes, and the like. . In addition, the skin condition is "softness", "firmness", "fineness", "transparency", "dryness", "greasyness", "conspicuous pores", "dark circles around the eyes". "", "Rough lips", and other specific skin conditions.

As described above, in this embodiment, the emotional state and/or biological state can be determined by the determination target person's response to the scent perception. Therefore, by having customers smell the fragrance at a store or the like and answering their impressions of the fragrance, the emotional state or physical condition/skin condition obtained as a determination result can be used for counseling or the like.

[Preparation for judgment method]
In the determination method according to the present embodiment, prior to the determination method, the correlation between the scent, the emotional state, and/or the biological state is obtained for a subject with a predetermined personality attribute, and this correlation is used. can be done. Thereby, the type of fragrance can be selected according to the personality attribute of the person to be judged, and efficient judgment can be performed.

Preparation for the determination method prior to the determination method includes acquiring data from a plurality of subjects. More specifically, the personality of a plurality of subjects is classified (ps1), each subject smells multiple types of scents, and the perception results for the scent are obtained (ps2), and the psychological state and / or The biological state is measured for a plurality of items (ps3), and the correlation between the scent perception result and the psychological and/or biological state of the subject is obtained for each personality attribute of the subject and for each scent (ps4). may contain. FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of the preparation process.

<Classification of Personality (ps1)>
Personality classification can be performed according to the predetermined personality classification described above in <Personality Attribute Determination (S1)> in the determination method. For example, if you use a classification based on the Big Five as a personality classification, set one or more questions for each of the five Big Five factors and ask the subject to answer whether it applies to him/herself. can be done. Here, the method of answering is not limited, and the answer may be given in 3 to 5 stages, the answer may be given on an analog scale (stepless scale), or a free answer may be used.

Then, cluster analysis can be performed using the obtained data. As cluster analysis, it is preferable to use hierarchical cluster analysis by Ward's method (minimum variance method) using squared Euclidean distance. As mentioned above, the number of personality attributes may be 2-6, preferably 3-5.

<Olfaction and Perception Result Acquisition (ps2)>
Subsequently, each subject is made to smell the scent, and the perception result of the scent is obtained. The predetermined scent to be smelled by the subject, how to make the subject smell the scent, how to acquire the result of perception of the scent, etc. are the same as the method described in <Obtaining scent and perception result (S2)> above. can be done with

<Measurement of psychological state and/or biological state (ps3)>
The content of the psychological state and/or biological state to be measured is the same as the psychological state and/or biological state determined in the above-described <Determination of psychological state and/or biological state (S3)> in the determination method.

The psychological state can be measured by asking each subject to answer a questionnaire. For example, if the multifaceted emotional state scale described above is used, it is possible to ask the respondent to respond to the items corresponding to each of the eight scales, based on whether or not his/her own state applies to the item. In that case, it is possible to assign points in 3 to 5 stages and calculate the total value for each scale.

Biological conditions can also be obtained by asking each subject to answer a questionnaire. Points can be assigned on a scale of 3 to 5. The biological condition, especially the skin condition, can also be measured by a known device.

The psychological state measurement and biological state measurement described above, that is, questions and answers in a questionnaire format may be performed before or after the smell. However, in particular, it is preferable to measure the psychological state before smelling the scent because the influence of the scent on the subject's state can be suppressed.

<Correlation between scent perception result and psychological state and/or biological state (ps4)>
Investigate the correlation between the results obtained in <Acquisition of olfactory scent and perception results (ps2)> and the results obtained in <Measurement of psychological state and/or biological state (ps3)> for each personality attribute . The correlation can be expressed as, for example, the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. As a result, it is possible to know which type of scent and which psychological state and/or biological state item has a particularly high correlation with a predetermined personality attribute. By storing the correlation as a database, it is possible to narrow down the scents according to the personality attributes of the person to be judged at the time of judgment. Judgment can be made.

In the following test, 49 subjects aged 20 to 59 were asked to smell a given scent, and the results of each person's perception of the scent were recorded. On the other hand, the mental and physical conditions of each subject were investigated by questionnaires for the subjects. Then, the correlation between the results of scent perception and the state of mind and body was obtained. In addition, the subjects were grouped by personality.

<Determination of personality attributes>
Subjects were grouped by personality based on the Big Five classification: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. More specifically, the following questions corresponding to the above five classifications were set, and the subjects were asked to “think different (1),” “neither (2),” or “think so.” (3).
・Extroversion “I like interacting with people and am an extrovert.”
・Collaborativeness “Have compassion for others and try to avoid confrontation”
・Industriousness "I like order and can discipline myself"
・Neurotic tendencies ``It is easy to get nervous, and it is easy to accumulate stress due to anxiety.''
・Openness “High interest in new things and rich imagination”
The responses were aggregated and analyzed by cluster analysis (hierarchical cluster analysis, Ward's method (minimum variance method)), and subjects were classified into one of four types (attributes) from P1 to P4.
・P1: low extroversion, high neuroticism ・P2: high extroversion, low industriousness ・P3: high extroversion, high industriousness, low neuroticism ・P4: low extroversion, openness low sex

Table 1 shows examples of responses from subjects classified into personality attributes P1 to P4.

<Measurement of psychological state>
A multifaceted emotional state scale (Shoji Terasaki et al., The Japanese Journal of Psychology, 1992, Vol.62, No.6, p350-356) was used to measure the subject's psychological state. A total of 40 items (multifaceted emotional state scale shortened version), each subject answered. For each item, the responses were ``yes'' (3 points), ``somewhat'' (2 points), ``not much'' (1 point), and ``not at all'' (0 points). I had them choose from four. The answer results were digitized by the numerical value in upper parenthesis, and the total value was calculated for each scale. In this test example, the psychological state was measured before the subject smelled the scent.

<Measurement of physical condition and skin condition>
Physical conditions and skin conditions were measured as biological conditions. The subjects were asked to answer the following questions.
・Physical Condition: Select from five options: “very good”, “good”, “neither”, “not good”, and “very bad” ・Overall skin condition: “very good”, “good”, “ Select one from 5 options: neither,” “bad,” and “very bad.” ・Specific skin conditions: dryness, oiliness, conspicuous pores, and eye area Dark circles, dark circles, rough lips, fineness, transparency, softness, and firmness were not felt at all, not much, and neither Select one from the following five options: "Not at all", "Slightly feel", and "Clearly feel". In this test example, the physical condition/skin condition was assumed after the subject smelled the scent.

<Acquisition of smell and perception results>
Each subject was asked to smell each of the three scent samples.
・ Fragrance A: Linalool (CAS number 78-70-6)
・ Fragrance B: α-damascone (CAS number 43052-87-5)
・ Fragrance C: Methyl dihydrojasmonate (CAS number 24851-98-7)
The subjects were asked to respond to five perception items of "preference", "strength", "lightness/weight", "sweetness", and "color brightness" for each of the scents A to C. received. The format of the responses was as follows.
・ “Like”… Select one from five: “Very like”, “Like”, “Neither”, “Do not like”, or “Do not like at all” ・ “Strength”… “ Select one from five: very weak, weak, just right, strong, and very strong・"Sweetness": Answer on a visual analog scale with "not feeling sweet at all" and "clearly feeling sweetness" indicated at both ends ・"Brightness of color": Select one from color samples (five levels) with brightness of about 1.0 to 9.5 according to the Munsell color system.

<Correlation>
Correlation coefficients between the above perception results and the above psychological state measurement results were obtained. Table 2 shows the results. Also, the correlation coefficient between the sensory results and the physical condition/skin condition measurement results was determined. Table 3 shows the results. The asterisks "*", "**", and "***" in Tables 2 and 3 are significant at the 5%, 1%, and 0.1% significance levels, respectively, as a result of the non-correlation test. indicates that In Tables 2 and 3, the items with the absolute value of the correlation coefficient of 0.40 or more and "*", "**" or "***" are picked up and shown. Among them, the absolute value of the correlation coefficient of 0.50 or more is displayed in bold.

From Table 2, it was found that there is a correlation between a predetermined psychological state item (emotional state scale) and the subject's perception of a predetermined scent for subjects having a predetermined personality attribute. Similarly, from Table 3, it was found that there is a correlation between a predetermined physical condition/skin condition and the subject's perception of a predetermined scent for subjects having a predetermined personality attribute. Therefore, by obtaining data on the correlation in advance, a subject with a predetermined personality attribute is applied with a predetermined scent, and by obtaining a perception result of the scent, a predetermined psychological state and / Alternatively, it is possible to estimate a predetermined physical condition/skin condition.

In addition, the inventors let the subject smell a predetermined scent without determining the subject's personality attribute, and examined the relationship between the perception result and the subject's emotional state and / or biological state. . However, once the subject's personality attributes were determined, no associations were found that were as significant as those found for subjects with specific personality attributes.

Although the present invention has been described above based on specific embodiments, these embodiments are only presented as examples, and the present invention is not limited by the above embodiments. Various changes, modifications, substitutions, deletions, additions, combinations, etc. are possible within the scope of the disclosure of the present invention.

Claims (7)

determining a subject's personality attributes based on a predetermined personality classification;
causing the subject to smell a predetermined scent and acquiring the subject's perception result of the predetermined scent;
A determination method, comprising determining the subject's emotional state and/or biological state based on the personality attribute and the perception result. 2. The determination method according to claim 1, comprising determining said predetermined scent according to said determined personality attribute. 3. The determination method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said personality attribute is determined based on each of a plurality of predetermined dispositional tendencies of said subject and determined based on said determination. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said predetermined personality classification assigns said subject to any of 2-6 personality attributes. 5. The emotional state of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the emotional state comprises one or more of emotions associated with active pleasure, inactive pleasure, affinity, concentration, startle, depression/anxiety, boredom, and hostility. judgment method. The determination according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the biological condition is a skin condition including one or more of skin softness, firmness, fineness, transparency, dryness, and oiliness. Method. 7. The determination method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the perceptual result includes one or more of likes and dislikes, strength, weight, sweetness, color, and fragrance tone felt with respect to the scent.

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