Dissecting disgust : an investigation of the validity of the Three Domain Disgust Scale

Research on the emotion disgust, and particularly individual differences in disgust sensitivity, has exploded in the past 15 years. However, most of this research has been based on outdated theory and poorly designed instruments. Tybur et al., (2009) suggested that past theoretical perspectives on disgust should best be updated in light of an evolutionary perspective, and measurement of disgust sensitivity should be developed based on an evolutionarily informed theory. After suggesting that disgust should be categorized along domains related to pathogens, sexuality, and morality, they introduced the Three Domain Disgust Scale, a new measure of individual differences in disgust sensitivity. The current set of investigation aimed to advance knowledge of the validity of the Three Domain Disgust Scale. A first study demonstrated that the pathogen, sexual, and moral factors of the Three Domain Disgust Scale relates to Five Factor Model dimensions in a manner consistent with the theory under which the Three Domain Disgust Scale was developed. A second study demonstrated that only sensitivity to sexual disgust relates to political conservativism, but sensitivity to moral disgust relates to disgust reported toward ideologically conflicting ideas and figures within the political realm. A third study demonstrated that the Three Domain Disgust Scale measures three dimensions in both men and women, though the degree to which individual scale items measure these factors varies somewhat between the sexes. Results of these studies are discussed, as is the current state of knowledge of the validity of the Three Domain Disgust Scale, and potentially fruitful future research directio

Is green the new sexy? Romantic benefits of conspicuous conservation

© 2020 The Author(s)Conspicuous conservation refers to pro-environmental activities that are intended as signals of some attractive quality of the actor. As some of these qualities are desirable in romantic partners, people may purchase green products or services to impress potential romantic partners. We propose that conspicuous conservation communicates generosity – a trait that is especially valued in long-term romantic partners. Two studies tested whether people's sustainable product preferences influence how they are perceived as romantic partners (Study 1), and whether actual product preferences are aligned with these perceptions (Study 2). Results from Study 1 suggest that people presented as having purchased green products are perceived as more generous and more attractive as long-term – but also short-term – romantic partners. Results from Study 2 suggest that individuals primed to think about a romantic context are no more likely to prefer sustainable products, suggesting an actor-observer discrepancy that potentially adds to the honesty of the conspicuous conservation signal. The potential communicative value of conspicuous conservation is discussed in relation to the literature on costly signaling, sexual selection, and green marketing

Disgust sensitivity relates to moral foundations independent of political ideology

Moral judgments seem related to the emotion disgust. Evolutionary considerations might illuminate the psychological processes underlying this relation. Several studies have noted that individuals who are more disgust sensitive condemn moral violations more strongly. However, this association could result from both disgust sensitivity and moral judgment being correlated with political ideology. To clarify the relationship between disgust sensitivity and moral judgment, we analyzed data from multiple published and unpublished datasets that included the Three-Domain Disgust Scale, the Moral Foundations Questionnaire, and a measure of ideology (total N = 2,478). Results showed that associations between disgust sensitivity and moral judgment remained when controlling for ideology. Each of the 3 types of disgust sensitivity uniquely predicted at least 1 of the 5 moral foundations. Moral disgust predicted scores for all moral foundations (largest effect for fairness/reciprocity). Sexual disgust predicted scores for all moral foundations except fairness/reciprocity (largest effect for purity/sanctity). Pathogen disgust had small predictive effects for ingroup/loyalty, authority/respect, and purity/sanctity. All effects were positive (i.e., higher levels of disgust sensitivity were associated with greater moral foundation endorsement). These findings suggest specific relations between disgust sensitivity and moral judgment that are not explained by ideology, shedding further light on the functions of disgust and morality

Preregistered direct replication of "Sick body, vigilant mind: the biological immune system activates the behavioral immune system"

The tendency to attend to and avoid cues to pathogens varies across individuals and contexts. Researchers have proposed that this variation is partially driven by immunological vulnerability to infection, though support for this hypothesis is equivocal. One key piece of evidence (Miller & Maner, 2011) shows that participants who have recently been ill—and hence may have a reduced ability to combat subsequent infection—allocate more attention to faces with infectious-disease cues than do participants who have not recently been ill. The current article describes a direct replication of this study using a sample of 402 individuals from the University of Michigan, the University of Glasgow, and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam—more than 4 times the sample size of the original study. No effect of illness recency on attentional bias for disfigured faces emerged. Though it did not support the original finding, this replication provides suggestions for future research on the psychological underpinnings of pathogen avoidance

Political Ideology, Trust, and Cooperation: In-group Favoritism among Republicans and Democrats during a US National Election

Theories suggest that political ideology relates to cooperation, with conservatives being more likely to pursue selfish outcomes, and liberals more likely to pursue egalitarian outcomes. In study 1, we examine how political ideology and political party affiliation (Republican vs. Democrat) predict cooperation with a partner who self-identifies as Republican or Democrat in two samples before (n = 362) and after (n = 366) the 2012 US presidential election. Liberals show slightly more concern for their partners’ outcomes compared to conservatives (study 1), and in study 2 this relation is supported by a meta-analysis (r =.15). However, in study 1, political ideology did not relate to cooperation in general. Both Republicans and Democrats extend more cooperation to their in-group relative to the out-group, and this is explained by expectations of cooperation from in-group versus out-group members. We discuss the relation between political ideology and cooperation within and between groups

Are people more averse to microbe-sharing contact with ethnic outgroup members? A registered report

Intergroup biases are widespread across cultures and time. The current study tests an existing hypothesis that has been proposed to explain such biases: the mind has evolved to interpret outgroup membership as a cue to pathogen threat. In this registered report, we test a core feature of this hypothesis. Adapting methods from earlier work, we examine (1) whether people are less comfortable with microbe-sharing contact with an ethnic outgroup member than an ethnic ingroup member, and (2) whether this difference is exacerbated by additional visual cues to a target's infectiousness. Using Chinese (N = 1533) and British (N = 1371) samples recruited from the online platforms WJX and Prolific, we assessed contact comfort with targets who were either East Asian or White and who were either modified to have symptoms of infection or unmodified (or, for exploratory purposes, modified to wear facemasks). Contact comfort was lower for targets modified to have symptoms of infection. However, we detected no differences in contact comfort with ethnic-ingroup targets versus ethnic-outgroup targets. These results do not support the hypothesis that people interpret ethnic outgroup membership alone as a cue to infection risk

Is the Relationship Between Pathogen Avoidance and Ideological Conservatism Explained by Sexual Strategies?

Multiple recent studies report that measures of pathogen avoidance (e.g., disgust sensitivity) correlate with political ideology. This relationship has been interpreted as suggesting that certain political views (specifically, those views that are categorized as socially conservative) function to mitigate the pathogen threats posed either by intergroup interactions or by departures from traditional societal norms, which sometimes evolve culturally for anti-pathogen functions. We propose and test the alternative hypothesis that pathogen avoidance relates to conservatism indirectly via sexual strategies (e.g., relatively monogamous versus relatively promiscuous). Specifically, we argue that individuals who are more invested in avoiding pathogens follow a more monogamous mating strategy to mitigate against pathogens transmitted during sexual contact, and individuals following a more monogamous mating strategy adopt socially conservative political ideologies to support their reproductive interests. Results from three studies ( N's = 819, 238, and 248) using multiple measures of pathogen avoidance, sexual strategies, and ideology support this account, with sexual strategies fully mediating the relationship between measures of pathogen avoidance and conservatism in each study

Hormonal correlates of pathogen disgust: Testing the Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis

Raised progesterone during the menstrual cycle is associated with suppressed physiological immune responses, reducing the probability that the immune system will compromise the blastocyst's development. The Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis proposes that this progesterone-linked immunosuppression triggers increased disgust responses to pathogen cues, compensating for the reduction in physiological immune responses by minimizing contact with pathogens. Although a popular and influential hypothesis, there is no direct, within-woman evidence for correlated changes in progesterone and pathogen disgust. To address this issue, we used a longitudinal design to test for correlated changes in salivary progesterone and pathogen disgust (measured using the pathogen disgust subscale of the Three Domain Disgust Scale) in a large sample of women (N = 375). Our analyses showed no evidence that pathogen disgust tracked changes in progesterone, estradiol, testosterone, or cortisol. Thus, our results provide no support for the Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis of variation in pathogen disgust

Consumer choices: Going green to be seen

What motivates consumers to buy eco-friendly products? Are people’s choices linked to their concern for the environment and thus to be viewed as expressions of altruism, or are motives fragile and self-serving reflections of concern about social status within the community