Psychology of Disgust

 

Disgust is a basic emotion like joy, sadness, fear, and anger found among people in many cultures. 

The bodily rejection of various substances and animals appears to be of evolutionary value in maintaining a healthy body (Jones, 2007; Penn, 1997). Early scientific consideration of disgust can be found in the work of Darwin (Olatunji et al., 2008) but the modern investigation of disgust is credited to Paul Rozin (Penn, 1997).

The psychology of disgust has developed from the excellent foundational research by psychological scientist Paul Rozin at Penn, who has been honored with the title, "Dr. Disgust." Most disgusting stimuli are associated with animals. Here’s a quote from a Penn newsletter about Paul Rozin’s work.

Most of the things that cause disgust -- food, feces, rotting flesh, and gore -- derive from animals. "Almost all disgusting food is of animal origin,"

Rozin categorizes disgust in four ways.

1. Core disgust (the basic mechanism for the rejection of foods)

2. Animal nature disgust (reminders of animal-like natures such as sex, excrement, death)

3. Interpersonal disgust (associations with people considered immoral or evil such as wearing the clothes of a murderer)

4. Moral disgust (a response to violations of divine law or commandments)

For a study of the link between types of disgust and personality, see Olatunji et al. (2008). Also, see Olatunji et al. (2014) for a study on the relationship of disgust to anxiety and avoidance.

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Moral transgressions, or sins in the language of religion, elicit measurable disgust. Although the disgust response is easily stimulated by noxious toilets, oozing wounds, and bodily odors, it appears that the human disgust response is not simply metaphorical as some have argued. In fact, a review of data from implicit and explicit measures and facial expressions document changes in response to varied presentations (visual, verbal, social) of moral transgressions (Chapman & Anderson, 2013).

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Bodily fluids associated with human sexuality and select sexual practices elicit the disgust response, which has been linked to the development of purity norms, customs, and laws, including religious laws governing cleanliness and purity for women and men—especially when they are to encounter that which is deemed sacred. Studies by Haidt (e.g., 2012) and his colleagues offer support for disgust as a moral emotion linked to the moral foundation of purity, which may help account for the rejection of people who identify as LGBTQ (Sutton, 2016; Sutton et al., 2019).

 

Related Posts

See the purity foundation in Moral Foundations Theory (MFT)

Why Christians have problems loving the “unholy.”

 

Cite this post

Sutton, G. W. (2024, August 5). Psychology of disgust. Psychology Concepts and Theories. Retrieved from https://suttonpsychology.blogspot.com/2024/08/psychology-of-disgust.html

 

References

 

Chapman, H. A., & Anderson, A. K. (2013). Things rank and gross in nature: a review and synthesis of moral disgust. Psychological bulletin, 139(2), 300–327. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030964

Haidt, J. (2012). The righteous mind: Why good people are divided by politics and religion. New York: Pantheon.

Jones, D. (2007). The depths of disgust. Nature 447, 768–771. https://doi.org/10.1038/447768a

Olatunji, B. O., Ebesutani, C., Haidt, J., & Sawchuk, C. N. (2014). Specificity of disgust domains in the prediction of contamination anxiety and avoidance: a multimodal examination. Behavior therapy, 45(4), 469–481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2014.02.006

Olatunji, B. O., Haidt, J., McKay, D., & David, B. (2008). Core, animal reminder, and contamination disgust: Three kinds of disgust with distinct personality, behavioral, physiological, and clinical correlates. Journal of Research in Personality, 42(5), 1243–1259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2008.03.009

Penn (1997, Fall). Food for thought: Paul Rozin’s research and teaching at Penn. Penn Arts & Sciences. Retrieved from https://www.sas.upenn.edu/sasalum/newsltr/fall97/rozin.html

Sutton, G. W. (2016). A House Divided: Sexuality, morality, and Christian cultures. Eugene, OR: Pickwick.  AMAZON    ISBN: 9781498224888

Sutton, G. W., Kelly, H. L., & Huver, M. (2019). Political identities, religious identity, and the pattern of moral foundations among conservative Christians. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 48, pp. 169-187

 Geoffrey W. Sutton, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Psychology. He retired from a clinical practice and was credentialed in clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. His website is  www.suttong.com

 

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