Created Image: Data on Gender Differences in Attitudes toward Becoming Fragrance-Free

Substantive Caption: Between April and July, 2018, CSW student researchers surveyed 700+ UCLA undergraduates on the way fragrance shapes their learning environments. The survey project had multiple goals. The primary objective was to determine the extent to which EDC exposure from fragranced products presented a barrier to accessible education to students with MCS or related illnesses and aversions to fragrances. We also wished to assess the extent to which UCLA students were receptive to the implementation of fragrance-free policies in classrooms and test settings.

Survey questions spanned many topics, all pertaining to the impact of fragrances on a participant’s concentration, learning ability, and health. The survey revealed attitudes towards fragranced products and the likelihood that the respondent would be willing to change or even reconsider their fragranced product utilization habits. One survey question asked respondents to evaluate the statement: “Aerosol sprays, scented personal care products, and/or hand soaps do not contain chemicals.” Approximately 88.59% of respondents (n = 631) stated that they disagreed with the statement suggesting that respondents are aware of the chemical makeup of some of the products they use on their bodies daily. However, when asked if the survey caused them to reconsider their fragrance product utilization, 50.97% (n = 618) stated that it did not. This suggests an interesting gap between knowledge, attitudes, and behavior in regards to the impact of chemical toxins on adverse health effects and perceived risk. While some respondents may understand and even acknowledge the risk of using such products, some seem to possess a low self-perceived risk, which is not adequate enough to cause a shift in behavior. Others acknowledge the health impacts even stated that it was an issue that was too trivial for them to consider.  The latter was an attitude that emerged in the free-response component of the survey.

The last survey question asked:“Did taking this survey cause you to reconsider your use of fragranced products?” Students were invited to explain their answer. Responses revealed the extent to which personal attachment to fragrance and fear of bodily odors overrode the respondents’ willingness to alter fragrance product use despite toxic exposure.

We were particularly interested in understanding if gender was a salient factor in whether students reconsidered their own use of fragranced products. In addition, we wanted to visualize whether their responses revealed concern for their own health or consideration for the health and comfort of others.  We hypothesized that female respondents would be more likely to discuss the need for fragranced products in the setting of social norms but would also be more likely to suggest that they were willing to reconsider their fragranced product usage. The comments demonstrate that females reported being more personally impacted by fragranced products (9.45% of n =127), relative to males, with no male commenters similarly reporting being personally impacted (n = 43). Furthermore, there was a similarity in the percentage of female (24.41%) and male commenters (20.91%) who were willing to reconsider their fragranced product usage to be mindful of those around them. We also found that it was males, not females, who possessed the highest relative percentage of individuals who believed fragranced product use was acceptable in the context of adhering to social norms for both themselves and those around them. Respondents often equated good hygiene with smelling “nice” and felt that avoiding fragranced products would compromise this. One male commenter wrote: “still would rather have fragranced smells than a smelly classmate who is made fun of or ridiculed for smelling bad.” 9.3% of male commenters stated they prioritized the social norms while 3.15% of females comments suggested they prioritized social norms. One female commenter wrote: “It occurred to me some people might be distracted by fragranced products. However, most of the time if I'm using a fragranced product, it's because I smell bad, and I think the world would rather smell my deodorant or body spray than body odor..”

Design Statement: We present this visualization of “Data on Gender Differences in Attitudes toward Becoming Fragrance-Free” for the following reasons:

• Spaces to write-in comments regarding whether the survey respondent has learned anything from the survey instrument conventionally function as closing vehicles to check whether the aims of the survey have been achieved.  In the spirit of “canary activism,” the most desirable yield on this question would be something along the lines of 51-100% responses indicating “From the survey I learned the potential health hazards of fragrances and now wish to become fragrance-free so as to support those with MCS and the health of my own body as well.” Real life observation and provocation yields more arrayed responses that can be further analyzed when the data is disaggregated along lines gender identification.

• We used ethnographic and community health styles of coding the qualitative data recorded in the comments section. Dwelling on these comments has raised the prospect that our previous presumption (see above on “low hanging fruit”) was likely incorrect.  Individuals are quite attached to masking bodily scents with fragrances (even when revealed for their toxicant effects), and worry about social stigma from “smelling bad.”

• The survey aimed at quantitative data collection.  The negative space drawing, so to speak, of that method emerged in the “comments” section.  We nonetheless reapplied visualization methods appropriate to quantitative data in this representation.

• The play with what can be represented quantitatively and qualitatively or in a blend or moebius-like crossing of quantitative and qualitative approaches is intentional.