Disgust: Difference between revisions
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Alexandra Abuhoff |
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'''Disgust''' is an [[emotion]] that is typically associated with things that are perceived as [[unclean]], [[inedible]], or [[infectious]]. In ''[[The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals]]'', [[Charles Darwin]] wrote that disgust refers to something revolting. Primarily in relation |
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to the sense of taste, as actually perceived or vividly imagined; and secondarily to anything which causes a similar feeling, through the sense of smell, touch, and even of eyesight. Disgust is one of the basic emotions of [[Robert Plutchik]]'s theory of emotions. Disgust invokes a characteristic facial expression, one of [[Paul Ekman]]'s six universal facial expressions of emotion. It is also associated with a fall in heart rate, in contrast, for example, to [[fear]] or [[anger]].<ref> |
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Rozin P, Haidt J, & McCauley C.R. (2000) Disgust In M. Lewis & J.M. Haviland-Jones (Eds) Handbook of Emotions, 2nd Edition (pp637- 653). New York: Guildford Press</ref> |
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Disgust may be further subdivided into physical disgust, associated with physical or metaphorical [[unclean]]ness, and [[morality|moral]] disgust, a similar feeling related to courses of action. |
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==Origins and development== |
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Disgust is thought to have its origins in (and in some cases to be identical to) [[instinct]]ive reactions that evolved as part of natural selection for behavior which tended to prevent food poisoning, or exposure to danger of infection. Disgust is frequently associated with [[waste]] products such as [[feces]] or [[urine]], secretions from the human body (such as mucus), and with [[decomposition|decomposing]] [[flesh]], and [[insect]]s, such as [[maggot]]s, associated with it. As in other [[human]] instinctual drives, disgust has an instinctual and a [[social construction|socially constructed]] aspect. Psychologist [[Paul Rozin]] has studied the development of feelings of disgust in children. [[Jonathan Haidt]] is a researcher whose work involves exploring the relationship between disgust and various traditional concepts of [[morality]]. His theory of [[social intuitionism]] seeks to explain the apparently irrational and visceral reactions to violations of the moral order. |
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[[William W. McCorkle Jr.]] is an evolutionary anthropologist whose research has focused on the ritualized compulsion to handle dead bodies in special ways with regards to the activation of disgust and contagion systems in humans. McCorkle argues that contagion is not triggered by an actual threat, such as a toxicity of the human body; however, he proffers the theory that dead bodies trigger an aggregate number of mental systems involved in agency, [[Theory of Mind]], and other systems linked to social intelligence which signal the potential threat of the corpse and any surrounding areas or predatory threats to individuals in the vicinity. This activation causes individuals to perform [[ritualized]] behaviors to corpses (and their remains/cremains). Moreover, McCorkle theorizes that contagion is an evolved psychological mechanism that utilizes biological warning systems such as disgust to trigger precautionary tags to sensory input in human minds from the environment for survival. |
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==Disgust and shame== |
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[[Martha Nussbaum]], a leading [[United States|America]]n philosopher, wrote a book published in 2004 entitled ''Hiding From Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law'' which examines the relationship of disgust and [[shame]] to a society's laws. A recent study found that [[women]] and [[child]]ren were more sensitive to disgust than men. Researchers attempted to explain this finding in [[evolution]]ary terms. While some find wisdom in adhering to one's feelings of disgust, some scientists have asserted that "reactions of disgust are often built upon prejudices that should be challenged and rebutted." |
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==Brain structures== |
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[[Functional magnetic resonance imaging|Functional MRI]] experiments have revealed that the [[insular cortex|anterior insula]] in the brain is particularly active when experiencing disgust, when being exposed to offensive tastes, and when viewing facial expressions of disgust.<ref> |
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Phillips ML ''et al.'' A specific neural substrate for perceiving facial expressions of disgust. |
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''Nature.'' 1997 Oct 2;389(6650):495-8. PMID 9333238</ref> |
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==Huntington's disease== |
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Many patients suffering from [[Huntington's disease]], a genetically transmitted progressive neurodegenerative disease, are unable to recognize expressions of disgust in others and also don't show reactions of disgust to foul odors or tastes.<ref>Mitchell IJ, Heims H, Neville EA, Rickards H. [http://www.neuro.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/17/1/119 Huntington's disease patients show impaired perception of disgust in the gustatory and olfactory modalities.] ''Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience'', 17:119-121, February 2005. PMID 15746492</ref> The inability to recognize disgust in others appears in carriers of the Huntington gene before other symptoms appear.<ref>Sprengelmeyer R, Schroeder U, Young AW, Epplen JT. "Disgust in pre-clinical Huntington's disease: a longitudinal study." ''Neuropsychologia.'' 2006;44(4):518-33. Epub 2005 Aug 11. PMID 16098998</ref> |
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==See also== |
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* [[Foodborne illness]] |
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* [[Taboo]] |
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* [[Phobia]] |
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* [[Nausea]] |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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==External links== |
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{{Wiktionary}} |
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{{Commonscat}} |
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* [http://www14.vjc.edu/academics/faculty/sherman_nancy/ Nancy Sherman, a researcher investigating disgust] |
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* [http://people.virginia.edu/~jdh6n/disgustscale.html Jon Haidt's page about the Disgust Scale] |
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* [http://people.virginia.edu/~jdh6n/moraljudgment.html Moral Judgment and the Social Intuitionist Model], publications by Jonathan Haidt on disgust and its relationship with moral ideas |
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* [http://pup.princeton.edu/chapters/i7697.html Hiding from Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law] |
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*[http://www.birchmore.org/index.html Shame and Group Psychotherapy] |
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* [http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nbt/journal/v22/n3/full/nbt0304-269.html "Is repugnance wise? Visceral responses to biotechnology" Nature Biotechnology] |
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* [http://www.classics.ox.ac.uk/faculty/princeton/KirkpatrickPurity0310.rtf ''Purity and Pollution''] by Jonathan Kirkpatrick (RTF) |
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*[http://kuznets.fas.harvard.edu/~aroth/papers/Repugnance.pdf Paper on the economic effects of Repugnance] |
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*[http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/A/anatomy_disgust/science.html Anatomy of Disgust], ''Channel 4'' program |
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{{Emotion-footer}} |
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[[Category:emotion]] |
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{{Link FA|de}} |
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[[da:Ækel]] |
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[[de:Ekel]] |
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[[eu:Higuin]] |
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[[fr:Dégoût]] |
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[[ko:혐오]] |
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[[io:Repugneso]] |
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[[it:Disgusto]] |
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[[pl:Wstręt (emocja)]] |
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[[pt:Nojo]] |
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[[ru:Неприятие]] |
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[[simple:Disgust]] |
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[[sk:Hnus]] |
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[[sv:Äckel]] |
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Revision as of 04:12, 10 November 2008
Alexandra Abuhoff