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.
***
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).
***
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.”
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
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