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).

***

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

 

See Geoffrey Sutton’s books on   AMAZON       or  GOOGLE STORE

Follow on    FACEBOOK   Geoff W. Sutton    

   X  @Geoff.W.Sutton    

You can read many published articles at no charge:

  Academia   Geoff W Sutton     ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton 

 

Dr. Sutton’s posts are for educational purposes only. See a licensed mental health provider for diagnoses, treatment, and consultation. 

 

Psychology of Guilt

Guilt is an uncomfortable emotional response associated with personal responsibility for violating one's moral code.

The moral violations may be doing something wrong or failing to do something one ought to do.

Guilt in a psychological sense is different from guilt in a legal sense. In psychology, a person feels guilty, which involves a self-conscious response along with the emotion. The feeling of guilt may be associated with past or present actions or failures to act associated with oneself or one's group. 

A person found guilty of breaking a law is a judgment made by some external authority. The person judged guilty may or may not feel guilty.

In psychology, a small amount of guilt related to a specific act or failure to act may be helpful to maintain important relationships when the feeling leads to actions that repair the perceived harm such as an apology or actions that rebuild trust.

Excessive guilt can be harmful. When people cannot gain relief from guilt they may need to see a psychotherapist.

Psychologists distinguish between guilt and shame. See the article on shame and the work by June Tangney. Guilt generally is experienced as a distressful emotion linked to some negative outcome or experience for which the person who feels guilty believes they have some degree of responsibility. In contrast, shame is a more pervasive negative evaluation of oneself as unworthy or blameworthy.

June Tangney was interviewed for an APA podcast. Here is a quote from that interview.

In a nutshell, when we feel shame, we feel bad about ourselves. We are fundamentally flawed because we did something. It reflects on who we are as a person. I’m a bad person for having done that. Guilt in contrast focuses on a behavior somewhat separate from the self. You can be a good person, but do a bad thing.

Guilt and Religion

Guilt and religion often have a close relationship. This is often seen in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder for those who obsess about wrongdoing and perform compulsive religious actions as if to rid oneself of guilt. For example, repeatedly confessing sin or asking forgiveness for sin.

 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

 See Geoffrey Sutton’s books on   AMAZON       or  GOOGLE STORE

Follow on    FACEBOOK   Geoff W. Sutton    

   TWITTER  @Geoff.W.Sutton    

You can read many published articles at no charge:

  Academia   Geoff W Sutton     ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton 

 

Dr. Sutton’s posts are for educational purposes only. See a licensed mental health provider for diagnoses, treatment, and consultation.

Read more about shame and guilt

Dein S. (2013). The Origins of Jewish Guilt: Psychological, Theological, and Cultural Perspectives. Journal of spirituality in mental health, 15(2), 123–137. https://doi.org/10.1080/19349637.2012.737682

Rakesh, K., Arvind, S., Dutt, B. P., Mamta, B., Bhavneesh, S., Kavita, M., Navneet, K., Shrutika, G., Priyanka, B., Arun, K., Harkamal, K., & Jagdeep, K. (2021). The Role of Religiosity and Guilt in Symptomatology and Outcome of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Psychopharmacology bulletin, 51(3), 38–49.

Tangney, J. P. (1990). Assessing individual differences in proneness to shame and guilt: Development of the Self-Conscious Affect and Attribution Inventory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 102-111.

Tangney, J. P., Miller, R. S., Flicker, L., & Barlow, D. H. (1996). Are shame, guilt, and embarrassment distinct emotions? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 1256-1269.

Walinga, P., Corveleyn, J., & van Saane, J. (2005). GUILT AND RELIGION: THE INFLUENCE OF ORTHODOX PROTESTANT AND ORTHODOX CATHOLIC CONCEPTIONS OF GUILT ON GUILT-EXPERIENCE. Archiv Für Religionspsychologie / Archive for the Psychology of Religion, 27, 113–135. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23910015

Sexual Self-Esteem

 

Sexual self-esteem is a subjective evaluation of one’s sexuality and is a contributing factor to global self-esteem.

Sexual self-esteem has been operationally defined by the Sexual Self-Esteem Scale (Zeanah and Schwarz (1996). The items in the scale are organized into five subscales. The following names of the five subscales reveal the thinking of some researchers about the features of sexual self-esteem.

Skill and experience

Attractiveness

Control

Moral judgment

Adaptiveness

Melanie Oattes and Alia Offman (2007) found that high levels of global self-esteem are associated with high levels of sexual self-esteem, which was consistent with the work of others. They also found that sexual self-esteem contributed to understanding sexual communication beyond the contribution of global self-esteem. Sexual self-esteem was measured with the Sexual Self-Esteem Scale and global self-esteem was measured with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965).

 

References

Oattes, M. K., & Offman, A. (2007). Global self-esteem and sexual self-esteem as predictors of sexual communication in intimate relationships. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 16(3–4), 89–100.

Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton University Press

Zeanah, P.D., & Schwarz, J.C. (1996). Reliability and validity of the sexual self-esteem inventory for women. Assessment, 3, 1-15

 Image note: Bing filter indicated free to share and use.

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

 

See Geoffrey Sutton’s books on   AMAZON       or  GOOGLE STORE

Follow on    FACEBOOK   Geoff W. Sutton    

   TWITTER  @Geoff.W.Sutton    

You can read many published articles at no charge:

  Academia   Geoff W Sutton     ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton 

 

Dr. Sutton’s posts are for educational purposes only. See a licensed mental health provider for diagnoses, treatment, and consultation.

 

 

Pornography and Psychology

 

Pornography is sexually explicit material that increases sexual arousal in consumers with an intact sexual response. The material may be presented in many forms such as film, photographs, books, paintings, sculptures, and so forth.

Psychological scientists disagree on the best way to define pornography so the above definition is not universally accepted. A useful review of key features of a definition of pornography can be found in McKee et al. (2020).

 

Reference

McKee, A., Byron, P., Litsou, K., & Ingham, R. (2020). An Interdisciplinary Definition of Pornography: Results from a Global Delphi Panel. Archives of sexual behavior, 49(3), 1085–1091. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-019-01554-4

 

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

 

See Geoffrey Sutton’s books on   AMAZON       or  GOOGLE STORE

Follow on    FACEBOOK   Geoff W. Sutton    

   TWITTER  @Geoff.W.Sutton    

You can read many published articles at no charge:

  Academia   Geoff W Sutton     ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton 

 

Dr. Sutton’s posts are for educational purposes only. See a licensed mental health provider for diagnoses, treatment, and consultation.

 

vaginismus

 

Vaginismus is a condition that interferes with sexual activity either due to an inability to vaginal penetration or considerable pain during penetration due to contraction of pelvic muscles in the outer one-third of the vagina during sexual intercourse. 

A diagnosis includes a review of medical and psychological factors.

Photo credit: Bing images filter = "free to share and use" search = "woman distress"

Gender and Sex concepts

 

The concepts of gender and sex appear interchangeable in common usage. Scientists use the concepts of sex and gender in different ways. Behavioral scientists and healthcare professionals attend to the ways people identify their gender. These concepts have changed in recent years and may change in the years ahead.

Sex and Gender

Sex refers to biological status and is usually identified at birth. The concept, birth sex, is in common use. Sex is typically based on external features thus, female or male but some infants present a mixed appearance previously called intersex.

Gender is a social construct. In psychology, concepts like man, woman, girl, and boy are in common use. For most people, gender terms match sex terms thus girls and women are female, boys and men are male. For a small but significant number of people, their sense of gender does not match their biological sex characteristics. And for those with mixed sex characteristics, a sense of gender develops as a person matures.

Gender Concepts

Culture influences the way people talk, dress, and act. In some cultures masculinity and femininity are very different. 

Agender is a term used by some who do not identify with any gender. It is different from nonbinary.

Cisgender (short form, cis) refers to a match between gender identity and birth sex.

FTM is an initialism for female-to-male, which refers to a trans man.

Gender Affirming Surgery (GAS) refers to any surgery that changes a person's body to match a person's gender. Also GCS.

Gender Confirming Surgery (GCS) refers to any surgery that changes a person's body to match a person's gender. Also GAS.

Gender dysphoria is the experience of distress related to the mismatch between a person's birth sex and their gender identity, which interferes with one or more dimensions of a person's social functioning such as in relationships, at school, at work, within one's home, and so forth.

Gender expression is the way a person behaves within a cultural context of gender norms, which include voice patterns, mannerisms, choice of clothing, interests, and so forth. Descriptions of gender expression include adjectives like feminine, masculine, and androgynous.

Gender identity is our sense of our own gender. Most people identify with their birth sex.

Gender nonconforming refers to people who do not fit the gender norms within their culture.

Intersectionality is the concept that self-identity may be influenced by multiple social experiences interacting with personal characteristics, which interact such that people experience their society differently. Experiences may be different based on national origin, ethnicity, physical abilities, gender, and so forth. This term has been politicized and lost its academic meaning.

MTF is an initialism for male-to-female, which refers to a trans woman.

Nonbinary is a term some people use when their sense of gender does not fit the categories of man or woman. The term genderqueer may also be used.

Transitioning refers to the process of a transgender person changing the way they identify and live out their gender identity. The process can include social (e.g., relationships, names), medical (e.g., hormones, surgery), and legal changes (e.g., gender and sex terms on legal documents). These changes vary from person to person.

Transgender (short form, trans) describes a person who does not identify with their birth sex. 

Trans man or transgender man is a transgender person whose gender identity is that of a man and the identity does not match his birth sex. 

Trans woman or transgender woman is a transgender person whose gender identity is that of a woman and the identity does not match her birth sex.

QPOC is an initialism for Queer Person of Color or Queer People of Color.

Queer is a general gender concept for people who are not straight.

Sex and Sexuality Concepts

Most people experience sexual attraction to others. Sexual orientation refers to the focus of attraction. The attraction may be romantic, emotional, physical, or both emotional and physical. 

Abromantic is a term used by people who report experiencing different romantic attractions throughout their lives. They may also change their sexual orientation. Although some use the term interchangeably with abrosexual, for others, abromantic can mean a desire for romantic relationships with or without sex.

Abrosexual refers to people who report experiencing different sexual or romantic attractions throughout their lives. They may also change their sexual orientation. Some use the term abromantic to mean the same thing but there can be differences. A person who identifies as abrosexual may desire sex but not be interested in a romantic relationship.

Asexual is a term describing people who do not experience sexual attraction (short version, ACE). 

Assigned sex is the identification of a person's sex listed as male or female usually based on external anatomy. Other terms are birth sex, natal sex, biological sex, and sex.

Binding is the process of wrapping breasts to decrease the appearance of breasts.

Birth sex is the identification of a person's sex listed as male or female usually based on external anatomy. Other terms are assigned sex, natal sex, biological sex, and sex.

Bisexual people who experience emotional and sexual attraction to men and women.

Disorders of Sexual Development (DSD) is a broad term for biological conditions related to sexual development.

Heteronormativity is the assumption that all people are either male or female, their gender is based on their birth sex, and this is assumed to be the normal condition of all humans. Other conditions are considered abnormal and inferior.

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is a process of changing one's body affected by hormones like estrogen and testosterone.

Intersex is a term describing people who do not have typical male or female sex characteristics at birth. The sex differences may not be external but may be internal and include hormones, chromosomes, and reproductive organs. Professionals may use the term DSD (Disorders of Sexual Development) .

Natal sex is the identification of a person's sex listed as male or female usually based on external anatomy. Other terms are assigned sex, birth sex, biological sex, and sex.

Pansexual a person who experiences emotional or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity.

Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS) is a surgical procedure modifying an aspect of sexual anatomy to match gender.

Sexual Orientation. The sexual orientation of people generally refers to a person's experience of being attracted to someone who is of the same or a different sex. A person's sexual orientation may be straight, gay, lesbian, or bisexual.

The sexual orientation of transpersons varies. They may be straight, gay, lesbian, or bisexual. A person who is only attracted to women and transitions from woman to man would be a straight man. A person who is only attracted to men and transitions from woman to man would be a gay man.

Communication About Sex and Gender

Some people list their pronouns in emails and in social media. This can help with identity.

Their, them, and they used to refer to more than one person but is commonly used, and accepted in some editorial formats like APA, to refer to one person.

Most people just list two pronouns like he/ him, she/ her.

LGBTQ+ The letters vary somewhat but refer to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (or questioning), and the plus sign for additional terms.

Distress

Some people experience considerable distress when their birth sex does not match their inner sense of gender identity but people around them treat them according to the gender they have been assigned since birth.

Comments

I will be pleased to make corrections in response to respectful comments.

Resources

APA Journal   Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity

APA Transgender

APA Sexual orientation and gender identity

APA definitions and pronouns

APA singular use of "they"

WebMD Sexual Orientation

American Counseling Association LGBTQ+

CDC resources for LGBT health

Photo credit Bing search, free to share and use

I am a retired psychologist and professor of psychology who writes about psychology.

Please check out my website   www.suttong.com

   and see my books on   AMAZON       or  GOOGLE STORE

Also, consider connecting with me on    FACEBOOK   Geoff W. Sutton    

   X  @Geoff.W.Sutton    

You can read many published articles at no charge:

  Academia   Geoff W Sutton     ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton 

A related book

A House Divided: Sexuality, Morality, and Christian Cultures

Available from the publisher

and on AMAZON