Conditioning of a stress management training to a distinctive scent

INTERVENTION: A randomized controlled between‐subjects design will be applied, consisting of two phases (acquisition phase and test phase), which will take place on two consecutive days at a similar time of the day. Participants are randomly allocated to one of three groups: Acquisition phase: Group 1 (no‐treatment control group) will perform a neutral filler task. Group 2 (treatment control group) and 3 (treatment conditioned group) will undergo a stress management training. Before and after the filler task or stress management training, all participants will be exposed to the same distinctive scent for one minute. Test phase: Participants in group 1 and 3 will be exposed to the same distinctive scent as in the acquisition phase. Participants in group 2 will not receive the scent and testing will be done in a different lab in order to avoid conditioning effects. After baseline measures and the scent exposure (in group 1 and 3), a psychosocial stress task will be applied (the Trier Social Stress Test). CONDITION: Odors, Healthy subjects, Conditioning, Stress Management Training ; ; PRIMARY OUTCOME: The primary outcome is state anxiety (as measured by the Shortened State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory‐State version (STAI‐S‐s: Spielberger et al., 1983)) after acute stress compared to the no‐treatment control group and the treatment control group combined. SECONDARY OUTCOME: Secondary parameters are physiological measures (e.g., heart rate and skin conductance) and self‐report measures (e.g., positive and negative affect). INCLUSION CRITERIA: 1. Healthy subjects 2. Between 18 and 35 years of age 3. Able to understand both Dutch and English