Volume 22, Issue 1
Domains of Disgust Sensitivity in a Spanish Sample
Abstract
The aim of this work was to ascertain the domains in which people experience disgust. A sample of 73 university students (51 women and 22 men) was recruited from a majority of the Spanish regions, who completed an open-ended survey about experiences of disgust. A total of 952 descriptions of situations and experiences of disgust were obtained, which were grouped in the following 10 domains: body products, animals, foods, hygiene, body envelope violations, decomposition/death, socio-moral, sex, homeless, and disease. The first five domains accounted for 87.3% of all descriptions. Disturbing experiences (148 descriptions) were mainly related to self-reported physiological reactions (mostly nausea) and to a lesser degree to behavioral, cognitive and phenomenological responses. These data could be useful for the study and evaluation of disgust and disgust sensitivity.
Keywords
disgust, disgust sensitivity, fears, phobias, anxiety disorders, psychopathology