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Edgar C, Chan F, Armstrong T, Dalmaijer ES. Long-term disgust habituation with limited generalisation in care home workers. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0299429. [PMID: 38630686 PMCID: PMC11023261 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2023] [Accepted: 02/11/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Countless workers handle bodily effluvia and body envelope violations every working day, and consequentially face deeply unpleasant levels of disgust. Understanding if and how they adapt can help inform policies to improve worker satisfaction and reduce staff turnover. So far, limited evidence exist that self-reported disgust is reduced (or lower to begin with) among those employed in high-disgust environments. However, it is unclear if this is due to demand effects or translates into real behavioural changes. Here, we tested healthcare assistants (N = 32) employed in UK care homes and a control sample (N = 50). We replicated reduced self-reported pathogen disgust sensitivity in healthcare workers compared to controls. We also found it negatively correlated with career duration, suggesting long-term habituation. Furthermore, we found that healthcare assistants showed no behavioural disgust avoidance on a web-based preferential looking task (equivalent to eye tracking). Surprisingly, this extended to disgust elicitors found outside care homes, suggesting generalisation of disgust habituation. While we found no difference between bodily effluvia (core disgust) and body envelope violations (gore disgust), generalisation did not extend to other domains: self-reported sexual and moral disgust sensitivity were not different between healthcare assistants and the control group, nor was there a correlation with career duration. In sum, our work confirms that people in high-frequency disgust employment are less sensitive to pathogen disgust. Crucially, we provide preliminary evidence that this is due to a process of long-term habituation with generalisation to disgust-elicitors within the pathogen domain, but not beyond it.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte Edgar
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Faye Chan
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Thomas Armstrong
- Department of Psychology, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington, United States of America
| | - Edwin S. Dalmaijer
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
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2
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Mouth proximity influences perceived disgust of visual stimuli. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2023.112146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/06/2023]
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3
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Temporary differences in pathogen disgust sensitivity and the perception of crowded spaces. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2022.111928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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4
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Kaňková Š, Takács L, Hlaváčová J, Calda P, Monk C, Havlíček J. Disgust sensitivity in early pregnancy as a response to high pathogen risk. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1015927. [PMID: 36923149 PMCID: PMC10009253 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1015927] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2022] [Accepted: 02/03/2023] [Indexed: 03/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Considered a part of the behavioral immune system (BIS), disgust sensitivity is expected to be adjusting as a response to the actual level of the environmental health risks. Methods In this preregistered study, we tested the hypothesis that disgust sensitivity would be higher during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period in pregnant women. In this between-subject study with a longitudinal trend design, we administered the Disgust Scale-Revised to 200 pregnant women before the pandemic and to 350 pregnant women during the pandemic. Results We found a small but significant effect of the pandemic on disgust sensitivity, such that higher disgust sensitivity was found in women pregnant during the pandemic. This effect was stronger in primiparae, however, the interaction between parity and the pandemic period was not significant. Disgust sensitivity decreased with age. No differences in terms of nausea and vomiting were found between the women pregnant before and during the pandemic. Discussion Our findings indicate that although BIS is presumed to function as a complex mechanism to prevent health-threatening behaviors, its activation in pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic is rather weak.
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Affiliation(s)
- Šárka Kaňková
- Department of Philosophy and History of Science, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
| | - Lea Takács
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
| | - Jana Hlaváčová
- Department of Philosophy and History of Science, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
| | - Pavel Calda
- Fetal Medicine Centre, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital, Prague, Czechia
| | - Catherine Monk
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, United States.,Division of Behavioral Medicine, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, United States
| | - Jan Havlíček
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
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5
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Stefanczyk MM, Lizak K, Kowal M, Sorokowska A. “May I present you: my disgust!” – Declared disgust sensitivity in the presence of attractive models. Br J Psychol 2022; 113:739-757. [DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12556] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2021] [Accepted: 01/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Katarzyna Lizak
- Faculty of Medical Sciences Medical University of Silesia Zabrze Poland
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Cao Q, Sun J, Peng M, Chen BB. Behavioral Responses to Familiar Versus Unfamiliar Older People as a Source of Disgust. EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY 2022; 20:14747049221077187. [PMID: 35238226 PMCID: PMC10355294 DOI: 10.1177/14747049221077187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2021] [Revised: 01/12/2022] [Accepted: 01/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Disgust, as a part of the behavioral immune system, leads people to avoid behaviors of pathogens so as to reduce the probability of infection. Disgust also shows the source effects based on familiarity. However, these source effects have not been tested on the older population. Thus, we tested the source effects of emotional and behavioral reactions from the disgust toward older adults and the possible moderating effects of filial piety on disgust. In the first study, we employed the self-report method to test the source effects of emotional feelings of disgust amongst undergraduates. In the second study, we measured whether filial piety among community adults produced moderating effects of the disgust toward older adults. In the third study, we employed the shape discrimination task to test the source effects of behavioral avoidance to older adults among undergraduates. The first and third studies show stronger negative emotional/avoidance reactions towards unfamiliar older adults than familiar older adults, affirming the source effects of disgust towards older adults that we expected. However, we did not find moderating effects of filial piety associated with disgust. These findings can help us understand the evolutionary origin of disgust toward older adults, which is likely activated more intensely and quickly in response to unfamiliar individuals as compared with familiar individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quan Cao
- Department of Psychology, Fudan University, China
| | - Jian Sun
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
| | - Ming Peng
- School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, China
| | - Bin-Bin Chen
- Department of Psychology, Fudan University, China
- Fudan Institute on Ageing, China
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7
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Miłkowska K, Galbarczyk A, Klimek M, Zabłocka-Słowińska K, Jasienska G. Pathogen disgust, but not moral disgust, changes across the menstrual cycle. EVOL HUM BEHAV 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2021.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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8
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Fančovičová J, Prokop P, Šramelová D, Thiebaut G, Méot A, Witt A, Bonin P, Medina-Jerez W. Does food play a prominent role in visual attention to disgusting stimuli? J ETHOL 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10164-021-00722-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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9
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Ksiazkiewicz A, Friesen A. Slimy worms or sticky kids How caregiving tasks and gender identity attenuate disgust response. Politics Life Sci 2020; 39:167-186. [PMID: 33231035 DOI: 10.1017/pls.2020.21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Disgust is derived from evolutionary processes to avoid pathogen contamination. Theories of gender differences in pathogen disgust utilize both evolutionary psychological and sociocultural perspectives. Drawing on research that suggests that masculine and feminine gender identities are somewhat orthogonal, we examine how gender identity intersects with pathogen disgust. In addition, building on evolutionary psychological and sociocultural accounts of how caregiving and parental investment affect pathogen disgust, we present a new measure of caregiving disgust and compare its properties across gender, parental status, and political ideology with those of a conventional pathogen disgust measure. This registered report finds that how masculinity and femininity affect disgust varies by gender, disgust domain, and their intersection; that parental status effects vary by disgust domain but not gender; that reframing disgust in terms of caregiving eliminates the gender gap in disgust; and that the caregiving frame unexpectedly strengthens the relationship between disgust and political ideology.
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Batres C, Perrett DI. Pathogen disgust sensitivity changes according to the perceived harshness of the environment. Cogn Emot 2019; 34:377-383. [PMID: 31062661 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2019.1612735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Much research has explored behaviours that are linked with disgust sensitivity. Few studies, however, have been devoted to understanding how fixed or variable disgust sensitivity is. We therefore aimed to examine whether disgust sensitivity can change with the environment by repeatedly testing students whose environment was not changing as well as student cadets undergoing intensive training at an army camp. We found that an increase in the perceived harshness of the environment was associated with a decrease in pathogen disgust sensitivity. Our results support the idea that disgust sensitivity is malleable depending on the environment. More specifically, we propose that in a harsh environment, where survival may be more difficult, pathogen disgust sensitivity may decrease to allow the consumption of available resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlota Batres
- Department of Psychology, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA, USA
| | - David I Perrett
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, Fife, UK
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11
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Tybur JM, Çınar Ç, Karinen AK, Perone P. Why do people vary in disgust? Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 373:rstb.2017.0204. [PMID: 29866917 PMCID: PMC6000141 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/12/2018] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
People vary in the degree to which they experience disgust toward—and, consequently, avoid—cues to pathogens. Prodigious work has measured this variation and observed that it relates to, among other things, personality, psychopathological tendencies, and moral and political sentiments. Less work has sought to generate hypotheses aimed at explaining why this variation exists in the first place, and even less work has evaluated how well data support these hypotheses. In this paper, we present and review the evidence supporting three such proposals. First, researchers have suggested that variability reflects a general tendency to experience anxiety or emotional distress. Second, researchers have suggested that variability arises from parental modelling, with offspring calibrating their pathogen avoidance based on their parents' reactions to pathogen cues. Third, researchers have suggested that individuals calibrate their disgust sensitivity to the parasite stress of the ecology in which they develop. We conclude that none of these hypotheses is supported by existing data, and we propose directions for future research aimed at better understanding this variation. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Evolution of pathogen and parasite avoidance behaviours’.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua M Tybur
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands .,Institute of Brain and Behaviour, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Çağla Çınar
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Annika K Karinen
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Paola Perone
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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12
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A bitter taste in the mouth: The role of 6-n-propylthiouracil taster status and sex in food disgust sensitivity. Physiol Behav 2019; 204:219-223. [PMID: 30836110 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2019.02.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2018] [Revised: 02/25/2019] [Accepted: 02/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
We investigated the relationship between perceived bitterness, food disgust sensitivity, and sex. Participants completed the 8-item Food Disgust Scale and a 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) taster test and were categorised as PROP non-tasters, medium-tasters, or supertasters. An analysis of variance of between-subject factors sex and PROP taster status was conducted with disgust sensitivity as the dependent variable. We found a significant interaction of sex and PROP taster status on disgust sensitivity and an association between disgust sensitivity and PROP taster status in males but not in females. Our study provided new evidence on sex differences in food disgust and PROP taste sensitivity.
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Brewis A, Wutich A, du Bray MV, Maupin J, Schuster RC, Gervais MM. Community hygiene norm violators are consistently stigmatized: Evidence from four global sites and implications for sanitation interventions. Soc Sci Med 2019; 220:12-21. [DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.10.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2018] [Revised: 10/22/2018] [Accepted: 10/23/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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Pereira PA, Miot HA, Coutinho TV, Schmitt JV. Aversion caused by skin diseases - a crowdsourcing study. Int J Dermatol 2018; 58:60-66. [PMID: 30229877 DOI: 10.1111/ijd.14205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2018] [Revised: 04/23/2018] [Accepted: 08/07/2018] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Disgust is a universal emotion that plays a role in reducing people's exposure to situations with risks of contamination. By the same token, skin diseases could generate aversion in observers. The present study aimed to assess the aversion triggered when viewing skin disease lesions on the face and hands. METHODS A questionnaire was applied over the Internet containing demographic questions, assessment of personal sensitivity to disgust - by the Disgust Scale-Revised (DS-R) -, and the aversion triggered when viewing eight images of skin diseases using an image aversion score (IAS) ranging from 0 to 10. RESULTS Six-hundred forty-nine people responded, 49% female, with a median age of 26 (p25-p75: 22-34). A total of 2596 evaluations of images were collected. The overall IAS median was 2 (0-4), and Cronbach's alpha resulted 0.87. There was a significant correlation between DS-R and IAS (Spearman's rho = 0.42; P < 0.01). Seven-hundred twenty-four (28%) evaluations were considered as contagious diseases and received higher IAS: 5 (2-7) × 1 (0-3); P < 0.01. In multivariate analysis, the higher IAS was independently associated with male gender, with no children, not working as a health professional or caregiver, and presenting higher DS-R (P < 0.01). By analyzing the IAS according to morphological characteristics, we identified lower scores for macular dyschromic lesions (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS The aversion triggered by skin lesions varies according to the personal characteristics of the observer and the morphology of the lesion, being lower for macular dyschromic lesions, and associated with disgust sensitivity and the assignment of contagiousness to the lesion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Priscilla A Pereira
- Department of Dermatology and Radiotherapy, Botucatu Medical School, Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Botucatu, SP, Brazil
| | - Helio A Miot
- Department of Dermatology and Radiotherapy, Botucatu Medical School, Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Botucatu, SP, Brazil
| | - Thales V Coutinho
- Research Laboratory of Clinical Neuroscience, Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
| | - Juliano Vilaverde Schmitt
- Department of Dermatology and Radiotherapy, Botucatu Medical School, Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Botucatu, SP, Brazil
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15
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Al-Shawaf L, Lewis DM, Buss DM. Sex Differences in Disgust: Why Are Women More Easily Disgusted Than Men? EMOTION REVIEW 2017. [DOI: 10.1177/1754073917709940] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Women have consistently higher levels of disgust than men. This sex difference is substantial in magnitude, highly replicable, emerges with diverse assessment methods, and affects a wide array of outcomes—including job selection, mate choice, food aversions, and psychological disorders. Despite the importance of this far-reaching sex difference, sound theoretical explanations have lagged behind the empirical discoveries. In this article, we focus on the evolutionary-functional level of analysis, outlining hypotheses capable of explaining why women have higher levels of disgust than men. We present four hypotheses for sexual disgust and six for pathogen disgust, along with testable predictions. Discussion focuses on additional new hypotheses and on future research capable of adjudicating among these competing, but not mutually exclusive, hypotheses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laith Al-Shawaf
- Department of Psychology, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, USA
- College of Life Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study, Germany
| | - David M.G. Lewis
- School of Psychology and Exercise Science, Murdoch University, Australia
| | - David M. Buss
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, USA
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Azlan HA, Overton PG, Simpson J, Powell PA. Differential disgust responding in people with cancer and implications for psychological wellbeing. Psychol Health 2016; 32:19-37. [PMID: 27615058 DOI: 10.1080/08870446.2016.1235165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Evidence suggests that disgust responses, known to negatively affect psychological wellbeing, may differ in people with cancer. We performed the first quantitative investigation of three discrete types of disgust trait - disgust propensity, sensitivity and self-directed disgust - in people diagnosed with a broad range of cancers (versus cancer-free controls), and explored their associations with psychological wellbeing. DESIGN In a cross-sectional survey design, 107 participants with heterogeneous cancer diagnoses, recruited from cancer charities and support groups, were matched with cancer-free controls by age and gender. OUTCOME MEASURES Measures of the three disgust traits were taken alongside measures of anxiety and depression. RESULTS Disgust sensitivity and physical self-disgust were significantly higher in the cancer than control sample, while disgust propensity and behavioural self-disgust were lower. The disgust traits had a different pattern of associations to psychological wellbeing across the two groups, with disgust sensitivity predicting depressive symptoms to a significantly greater extent in the cancer than control group. CONCLUSIONS People with cancer differ from matched controls in their disgust responses and these responses have significant predictive relationships with aspects of their psychological wellbeing. The results suggest that emotion-based interventions may be useful for improving psychological wellbeing in people with cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Paul G Overton
- a Department of Psychology , University of Sheffield , Sheffield , UK
| | - Jane Simpson
- b Division of Health Research , Lancaster University , Lancaster , UK
| | - Philip A Powell
- c Department of Economics , University of Sheffield , Sheffield , UK
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