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A filthy first -- 6 common types of disgust that protect us from disease revealed

#1
C C Offline
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/...060118.php

RELEASE: Disgust has long been recognised as an emotion which evolved to help our ancestors avoid infection, but now researchers have been able to show the human disgust system is likely to be structured around the people, practices and objects that pose disease risk. This is the first time researchers have used the perspective of disease to break the emotion of disgust into its component parts, and identify six common categories triggering disgust - the others being skin conditions such as having lesions or boils, food that is rotting or has gone off and having an atypical appearance such as deformity. The researchers say these findings could help to target public health messaging, for example to encourage handwashing with soap or to counter the stigma associated with sickness.

The study, led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), surveyed more than 2,500 people online, listing 75 potentially 'disgusting' scenarios they might encounter, ranging from people with obvious signs of infection, pus-filled skin lesions and objects teeming with insects, to listening to sneezes and defecation in the open. Participants were asked to rate the strength of their disgust response to each scenario on a scale ranging from 'no disgust' to 'extreme disgust'.

Of all the scenarios presented, infected wounds producing pus were rated as the most disgusting. The violation of hygiene norms - such as having bad body odour, was also found to be particularly disgusting.

By analysing participants' responses, researchers were able to identify the six common categories of disgust, which each relate to regularly occurring types of infectious disease threat in our ancestral past. Historically for example, eating rotting food could have led to diseases like cholera, close contact with unhygienic people could have transmitted leprosy, promiscuous sexual practices could have put an individual at risk of syphilis and contact with open wounds could have led to the plague or smallpox infection.

The results confirm the 'parasite avoidance theory', in which disgust evolved in animals, encouraging them to adopt behaviours to reduce the risk of infection. This behaviour is replicated in humans where disgust signals us to act in specific ways, which minimise the risk of catching diseases.

Professor Val Curtis, senior author at LSHTM said: "Although we knew the emotion of disgust was good for us, here we've been able to build on that, showing that disgust is structured, recognising and responding to infection threats to protect us. This type of disease avoidance behaviour is increasingly evident in animals, and so leads us to believe it is evolutionarily very ancient. Increasing our understanding of disgust like this could provide new insights into the mechanisms of disease avoidance behaviour, and help us develop new methods to keep our environments, fellow animals and ourselves healthy."

Interestingly, the survey results showed that there were gender differences in reactions to the disgusting scenarios that were presented, with women rating every category more disgusting than men. This is consistent with the fact that men are known to indulge in riskier behaviour than women, on average. The categories women in the study found most disgusting were risky sexual behaviour and animals carrying disease.

Before the study, the team predicted that types of disgust would correspond directly to categories of disease threat. However, they found that the types of disgust in the brain were more closely linked to the actions that people need to take to avoid disease - for example by not touching oozing skin lesions or approaching people with bad body odour. This corresponds to an evolutionary view of the emotions which are for action; emotions make us do things that put us in a better state with respect to our survival and reproduction.

Micheal de Barra, who co-led the research at LSHTM and now lectures Psychology at Brunel University London, said: "Although we only really came to understand how diseases transmit in the 19th century, it's clear from these results that people have an intuitive sense of what to avoid in their environment. Our long coevolution with disease has 'wired in' this intuitive sense of what can cause infection."

Researchers say the findings could be used to develop instruments for measuring disgust, to investigate how disgust might vary across cultures and to understand how moral disgust, for example, relates to disease disgust.

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#2
Syne Offline
I wonder what this tells us about those who rate low in disgust sensitivity in the moral foundations theory, like progressives.
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#3
C C Offline
(Jun 4, 2018 04:17 AM)Syne Wrote: I wonder what this tells us about those who rate low in disgust sensitivity in the moral foundations theory, like progressives.


Are You Easily Disgusted? You May Be a Conservative - 2013

Those who have a low sensitivity to disgust tend to be liberals or libertarians  - 2013

Disgust sensitivity relates to moral foundations independent of political ideology (PDF) - 2016

It's already touted that traditionalists have more children. So if the above (that's not directly connected to the Val Curtis studies) was actually valid today and ages before (who knows when it comes to the reliability of social sciences research)... Then Dr Curtis seems to pile on that by stating that those who were most disgusted by parasites and disease-causing situations in deep history passed on their genes to later generations via better survival or reproductive rates.

But aside from maybe using innate disgust to encourage cleanly manners, the only video below where she seems to touch upon propaganda is the third one (also the shortest). And that just revolves around denouncing exploitation of disgust to foster discrimination against immigrants from poor countries.

The disgust emotion evolved to help us avoid parasites and pathogens. But what is its history? Do other animals have disgust? What’s it got to do with good manners and morality? And how does it connect with politics and racism? In this talk, Val Curtis, Professor of Hygiene at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine will explore the rich history of the disgust emotion and the ways in which it can be used for good or evil.

The evolution of disgust
https://youtu.be/rKpf2T_Rf_c

Who's in control: the power of [behavioral] settings
https://youtu.be/xuJY5A5gOS4

How understanding disgust opens a window into human behaviour
https://youtu.be/aI4iQVc6-u4

Dr Valerie Curtis and Disgustology
https://youtu.be/OrURF4FDXpM

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#4
Magical Realist Offline
I think people who are easily disgusted are immature. Disgust was more common when we were kids, living in a world haunted by cooties and stenches and "nastiness"..Growing up is the overcoming of disgust with a generous acceptance of life in all its naturalness.
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#5
Syne Offline
Except immigrants lacking in herd immunity, through vaccines, could pose a legitimate health risk.

And plenty of children have no qualms touching disgusting things no adult would.
People with a low disgust sensitivity have likely been desensitized through choice and habit.
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