A practical test for retronasal odor identification based on aromatized tablets.

BACKGROUND: Olfactory perceptions elicited by odors originating from within the body (retronasal olfaction) play a crucial role in well-being and are often disrupted in various medical conditions. However, the assessment of retronasal olfaction in research and the clinical practice is impeded by the lack of commercially available tests and limited standardization of existing testing materials. NEW METHOD: The novel ThreeT retronasal odor identification test employs 20 flavored tablets that deliver a standardized amount of odorous stimuli. The items represent common food- and non-food-related odors. RESULTS: The ThreeT test effectively distinguishes patients with olfactory dysfunction from healthy controls, achieving a specificity of 86% and sensitivity of 73%. Its scores remain stable for up to 3 months (r=.79). COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD: ThreeT test exhibits a strong correlation with "Tasteless powders" measure of retronasal olfaction (r=.78) and classifies people into healthy and patient groups with similar accuracy. Test-retest stability of ThreeT is slightly higher than the stability of "Tasteless powders" (r=.79 vs r=.74). CONCLUSIONS: ThreeT is suitable for integration into scientific research and clinical practice to monitor retronasal odor identification abilities.

The Role of Victim's Resilience and Self-Esteem in Experiencing Internet Hate.

Despite the growing prevalence of research on Internet hate, little is still known about the psychological factors that differentiate those who are negatively affected by being subjected to Internet hate and those who are not affected at all or only to a small degree. In the present studies, we aimed to verify if resilience and self-esteem could be predictors of such responses. A total of 60 public figures (politicians, athletes, and artists; 46.7% women) and 1128 ordinary Internet users (25.1% women) participated in the study. Participants completed The Brief Resilience Scale, The Self-Esteem Scale, and The Internet Hate Concern Scale, which was created for this study, and determined how often they experience hate online. The results showed that the public figures experience Internet hate more often but were less concerned with it than the ordinary Internet users, who received online hate less often, but were more worried about it. In both groups, high self-esteem and high resilience were negative predictors of greater concern with received online hate. Our study is the first step to understanding what makes the difference between people who cope well and are not particularly concerned, and people who are greatly affected by received Internet hate.