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Rengiiyiler S, Teközel M. Visual attention is not attuned to non-human animal targets' pathogenicity: an evolutionary mismatch perspective. THE JOURNAL OF GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 2024:1-22. [PMID: 38733318 DOI: 10.1080/00221309.2024.2349005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/13/2024]
Abstract
A considerable amount of research has revealed that there exists an evolutionary mismatch between ancestral environments and conditions following the rise of agriculture regarding the contact between humans and animal reservoirs of infectious diseases. Based on this evolutionary mismatch framework, we examined whether visual attention exhibits adaptive attunement toward animal targets' pathogenicity. Consistent with our predictions, faces bearing heuristic infection cues held attention to a greater extent than did animal vectors of zoonotic infectious diseases. Moreover, the results indicated that attention showed a specialized vigilance toward processing facial cues connoting the presence of infectious diseases, whereas it was allocated comparably between animal disease vectors and disease-irrelevant animals. On the other hand, the pathogen salience manipulation employed to amplify the participants' contextual-level anti-pathogen motives did not moderate the selective allocation of attentional resources. The fact that visual attention seems poorly equipped to detect and encode animals' zoonotic transmission risk supports the idea that our evolved disease avoidance mechanisms might have limited effectiveness in combating global outbreaks originating from zoonotic emerging infectious diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mert Teközel
- Department of Psychology, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey
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2
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Gumussoy M, Rogers PJ. It tastes OK, but I don't want to eat it: New insights into food disgust. Appetite 2023:106642. [PMID: 37421979 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2023.106642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2023] [Revised: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/22/2023] [Indexed: 07/10/2023]
Abstract
To better understand food-disgust, we investigated the long-standing theory that disgust towards a food causes it to taste 'bad'. To induce disgust, participants were served cookies labelled as containing crickets (Study 1); or served whole crickets versus novel (leblebi) and familiar (peanuts) control foods (Study 2). Participants (Study 1: N = 80; Study 2: N = 90) tasted the foods and rated taste pleasantness, desire to eat, disgust and, in Study 1, 16 taste attributes (e.g., nuttiness). Latency to eat and food intake were included as behavioural indicators of disgust. In both studies disgusting foods were presumed to taste bad, but this was disconfirmed after tasting - disgust did not cause the food to taste bad. Nonetheless, the taste attribute results suggested increased attention towards cricket flavours/textures. Furthermore, desire to eat and intake results suggested that disgust, but not novelty, was associated with reduced food wanting. Even if a disgust-inducing food tastes OK, people do not 'want' to consume it. By offering novel insights into our understanding of disgust, these results may stimulate progress in new avenues of emotion research, as well as informing the development of methods to reduce disgust and increase the acceptance of novel, sustainable, foods. For example, interventions should encourage tasting to overcome negative expectations of taste pleasantness and should tackle low levels of wanting, e.g., by normalising consumption of the target food.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maya Gumussoy
- Nutrition and Behaviour Unit, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, UK.
| | - Peter J Rogers
- Nutrition and Behaviour Unit, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, UK
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3
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Brown M, Brown SM. Functional Heuristics of Disease Transmission from Physical Deformities in Food Preferences. EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2023; 9:1-7. [PMID: 37362225 PMCID: PMC10244852 DOI: 10.1007/s40806-023-00367-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2023] [Revised: 05/01/2023] [Accepted: 05/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023]
Abstract
Ostensibly serving to restrict contact with disease vectors, humans exhibit aversion toward cues heuristically inferred as pathogenic. This restriction could lead perceivers to downregulate their interest in food consumption, even if such cues may not connote actual disease threats. This proclivity to avoid disease led us to consider how heuristic disease cues inform interest in foods. Participants evaluated a hypothetical food preparer that varied in the presence of heuristic cues to disease transmission (i.e., physical deformities versus healthy control). Individuals with low levels of perceived infectability were more discerning of the social target as a function of disease cues, whereas heightened levels of this trait fostered an overall aversion to targets regardless of health status. Results provide continued evidence for how pathogen avoidance motives compete with other somatic motives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mitch Brown
- Department of Psychological Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701 USA
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4
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Ioannidou M, Lesk V, Stewart-Knox B, Francis KB. Moral emotions and justifying beliefs about meat, fish, dairy and egg consumption: A comparative study of dietary groups. Appetite 2023; 186:106544. [PMID: 36965525 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2023.106544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Revised: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/18/2023] [Indexed: 03/27/2023]
Abstract
Meat eaters and meat abstainers differ in their beliefs and moral emotions related to meat consumption alongside gender differences. Few studies have investigated beliefs and moral emotions in pescatarians and vegans. Little is known about differences in moral emotions and beliefs regarding dairy, eggs, and fish or about speciesist beliefs within and between specific dietary groups. To address this gap, we investigated moral emotions (consumption-related disgust and guilt), attitudes towards animals (Animal Attitudes Scale) and justifying beliefs related to meat (Carnism Inventory), dairy, egg, and fish consumption in omnivores (n = 167), pescatarians (n = 110), vegetarians (n = 116), and vegans (n = 149). Results showed that people who consumed animal-derived products reported lower disgust and guilt and held stronger justifying beliefs about consumption of these products than those who did not consume animal products. All dietary groups significantly differed from each other in their attitudes about using animals for human benefit, with omnivores showing the least positive attitudes towards animals, followed by pescatarians and vegetarians, and with vegans showing the most positive attitudes towards animals. Women experienced greater moral emotions and held fewer justifying beliefs than men within groups where animal products were consumed and related to the animal-based products they consume (i.e., fish for pescatarians and eggs/dairy for vegetarians). These findings emphasise the importance of considering a wider range of animal products, such as eggs, dairy and fish, and dietary groups in order to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the psychological underpinnings of animal product consumption. The results highlight differences between dietary groups in attitudes and moral concern towards animals, which may be important to consider when designing interventions to reduce animal product consumption.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Valerie Lesk
- Department of Psychology, University of Bradford, UK
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5
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White KP, Al-Shawaf L, Lewis DM, Wehbe YS. Food neophobia and disgust, but not hunger, predict willingness to eat insect protein. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2022.111944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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6
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Culicetto L, Ferraioli F, Lucifora C, Falzone A, Martino G, Craparo G, Avenanti A, Vicario CM. Disgust as a transdiagnostic index of mental illness: A narrative review of clinical populations. Bull Menninger Clin 2023; 87:53-91. [PMID: 37871195 DOI: 10.1521/bumc.2023.87.suppa.53] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
Disgust is a basic emotion of rejection, providing an ancestral defensive mechanism against illness. Based on research that documents altered experiences of disgust across several psychopathological conditions, we conducted a narrative review to address the hypothesis that altered disgust may serve as a transdiagnostic index of mental illness. Our synthesis of the literature from past decades suggests that, compared to healthy populations, patients with mental disorders exhibit abnormal processing of disgust in at least one of the analyzed dimensions. We also outline evidence of alterations in brain areas relevant to disgust processing, such as the insula and the interconnected limbic network. Overall, we provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that altered disgust processing may serve as a transdiagnostic index of mental illness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Culicetto
- Department of Cognitive Science, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| | | | - Chiara Lucifora
- Institute of Cognitive Science and Technology, ISTC-CNR, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Gabriella Martino
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Craparo
- Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, UKE-Kore University of Enna, Cittadella Universitaria, Enna, Italy
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neurosciences Research Center, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile, and the Center for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology "Renzo Canestrari," Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Cesena Campus, Cesena, Italy
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7
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Christensen RE, Lewis M. The Development of Disgust and Its Relationship to Adolescent Psychosocial Functioning. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 2022; 53:1309-1318. [PMID: 34164758 DOI: 10.1007/s10578-021-01208-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Experiences of excessive disgust have been implicated in several psychopathologies. Research, however, has rarely examined disgust and its role in psychosocial functioning from a developmental standpoint. This study examines the relationship between disgust expression in early life and subsequent adolescent psychosocial functioning. Data from 165 children were collected as part of a longitudinal study. Disgust propensity in infancy and childhood was assessed using a facial expressivity task and food aversion task, respectively. Adolescent psychosocial functioning was measured through several self-report measures. Results suggest that there exists a degree of consistency in disgust expression within the first year of life, and that childhood disgust propensity may be related to impairment in early adolescent psychosocial functioning. These findings highlight the potential importance of identifying early disgust expression as a marker for later psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Michael Lewis
- Institute for the Study of Child Development, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
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8
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Decoding Emotion in Drug Abusers: Evidence for Face and Body Emotion Recognition and for Disgust Emotion. Eur J Investig Health Psychol Educ 2022; 12:1427-1440. [PMID: 36135237 PMCID: PMC9498236 DOI: 10.3390/ejihpe12090099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2022] [Revised: 09/06/2022] [Accepted: 09/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Different drugs damage the frontal cortices, particularly the prefrontal areas involved in both emotional and cognitive functions, with a consequence of decoding emotion deficits for people with substance abuse. The present study aimed to explore the cognitive impairments in drug abusers through facial, body and disgust emotion recognition, expanding the investigation of emotions processing, measuring accuracy and response velocity. Methods: We enrolled 13 addicted to cocaine and 12 alcohol patients attending treatment services in Italy, comparing them with 33 matched controls. Facial emotion and body posture recognition tasks, a disgust rating task and the Barrat Impulsivity Scale were included in the experimental assessment. Results: We found that emotional processes are differently influenced by cocaine and alcohol, suggesting that these substances impact diverse cerebral systems. Conclusions: Drug abusers seem to be less accurate on elaboration of facial, body and disgust emotions. Considering that the participants were not cognitively impaired, our data support the hypothesis that emotional impairments emerge independently from the damage of cognitive functions.
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9
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Becker E, Kozmér S, Aulbach MB, Lawrence NS. The relationship between meat disgust and meat avoidance-A chicken-and-egg problem. Front Nutr 2022; 9:958248. [PMID: 36118782 PMCID: PMC9479216 DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2022.958248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Accepted: 08/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Feelings of disgust toward meat have been researched for at least 30 years, but so far the causal relationship that may link meat disgust and meat consumption has remained elusive. Two possible pathways have been proposed in previous literature: the more common pathway seems to be that meat disgust is developed after a transition to vegetarianism, potentially via the process of moralization and recruitment of (moral) disgust. Other accounts suggest the existence of a second pathway in which disgust initiates the avoidance of meat and this can be explained by existing theories of disgust functioning as a pathogen avoidance mechanism and meat serving as a pathogen cue. However, the evidence base for either relationship remains thin and to our knowledge no research has examined whether temporary meat abstention can lead to increases in meat disgust, as the first pathway suggests. We measured meat disgust and meat intake in n = 40 meat eaters before and after attempting a meat-free diet for 1 month (while taking part in the annual vegan campaign Veganuary). Although most participants lapsed to eating meat during this period, we found that reductions in meat intake during the month were predictive of increases in meat disgust afterwards. This supports the view that meat disgust is expressed as a result of meat avoidance in meat eaters. Implications for theoretical understanding of the relationship between meat disgust and meat avoidance, as well as the development of disgust based interventions are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Becker
- Psychology Department, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
| | - Stella Kozmér
- Psychology Department, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
| | - Matthias B. Aulbach
- Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
- School of Science, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
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10
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Norms in French for 209 images of the “food-pics” image database. Food Qual Prefer 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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11
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Fančovičová J, Prokop P, Šramelová D, Thiebaut G, Méot A, Witt A, Bonin P, Medina-Jerez W. Does food play a prominent role in visual attention to disgusting stimuli? J ETHOL 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10164-021-00722-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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12
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13
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Wagner J, Grigor J, Abdullah A, Cannon P, Wilkin J, Robertson P, Szymkowiak A. The relationship between tendency to attend to detail, sensory sensitivity, and affective response to food cues - A registered report. Int J Psychophysiol 2021; 166:50-60. [PMID: 33965421 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2021.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2019] [Revised: 04/30/2021] [Accepted: 05/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the underlying drivers of food choice remains a challenge and has highlighted the need for measures that capture data over and above that offered by self-reporting tools. Consequently, a growing body of research has set out to interpret facial responses to food cues to offer a greater insight into the emotional responses that may drive food acceptance. However, interpreting facial responses is challenging, as there are numerous factors that may influence affective response to foods, including expectation, context, and individual differences. Existing findings suggest there is a link between autistic traits and sensory sensitivities; research highlights further links between sensory sensitivities and eating behaviour, and autistic traits and eating behaviour, with a body of research focusing on the autistic trait attention to detail (ATD). As such, the current study aimed to examine rapid facial activity in response to foods cues while capturing these individual differences present in the general population. This study found no evidence to suggest facial responses to food pictures were linked with attention to detail or hyper-sensitivity. The findings did support a general link between self-reported pleasantness ratings of viewed foods and activity of facial muscles. Post-hoc analyses suggested scoring on the social skills sub-scale of the Autism Quotient (AQ) was associated with levator activity while viewing pictures low in pleasantness. This study offers a greater understanding of variations, at the individual level, which are associated with affective response to foods, and may help to inform the development of tools that set out to predict food acceptance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Wagner
- Abertay University, Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
| | - John Grigor
- Abertay University, Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
| | - Ahmed Abdullah
- Abertay University, Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
| | - Peter Cannon
- Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
| | - Jonathan Wilkin
- Abertay University, Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
| | - Paul Robertson
- Abertay University, Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
| | - Andrea Szymkowiak
- Abertay University, Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
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14
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Becker E, Lawrence NS. Meat disgust is negatively associated with meat intake - Evidence from a cross-sectional and longitudinal study. Appetite 2021; 164:105299. [PMID: 33965435 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2021.105299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2020] [Revised: 04/29/2021] [Accepted: 05/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Meat consumption is increasingly seen as unsustainable, unhealthy, and unethical. Understanding what factors help people reduce their meat intake is urgently needed. One such factor is meat disgust, a feeling reported by many vegetarians, and which could be a promising basis for meat reduction interventions. However, meat disgust and its impact on meat consumption is poorly understood. We examined meat disgust and its role in vegetarianism and reducing meat intake in a cross-sectional and longitudinal online study. We measured self-reported meat consumption, meat disgust (by self-report and Implicit Association Test), meat liking, self-control, and disgust sensitivity in N = 711 adults (57% omnivores, 28% flexitarians, 15% vegetarians) recruited from a community cohort. Results showed that 73% of vegetarians can be classified as 'meat disgusted', and that meat disgust predicted meat intake better than self-control in omnivores and flexitarians at baseline. Following up a sub-sample of participants (N = 197) after six months revealed that changes in meat intake over time were also associated with changes in meat disgust. This is the first study to quantify the impact of meat disgust on (changes in) meat consumption and its prevalence in the vegetarian and the general population. Our findings advance research into meat disgust and encourage the development of disgust-based interventions to reduce meat intake.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Becker
- School of Psychology, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QG, UK.
| | - Natalia S Lawrence
- School of Psychology, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QG, UK.
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15
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Lorenzo PMD. Neural Coding of Food Is a Multisensory, Sensorimotor Function. Nutrients 2021; 13:nu13020398. [PMID: 33513918 PMCID: PMC7911409 DOI: 10.3390/nu13020398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Revised: 01/14/2021] [Accepted: 01/20/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
This review is a curated discussion of the relationship between the gustatory system and the perception of food beginning at the earliest stage of neural processing. A brief description of the idea of taste qualities and mammalian anatomy of the taste system is presented first, followed by an overview of theories of taste coding. The case is made that food is encoded by the several senses that it stimulates beginning in the brainstem and extending throughout the entire gustatory neuraxis. In addition, the feedback from food-related movements is seamlessly melded with sensory input to create the representation of food objects in the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patricia M Di Lorenzo
- Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, Box 6000, Binghamton, NY 13902-6000, USA
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16
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Facial EMG Activity Is Associated with Hedonic Experiences but not Nutritional Values While Viewing Food Images. Nutrients 2020; 13:nu13010011. [PMID: 33375209 PMCID: PMC7822192 DOI: 10.3390/nu13010011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2020] [Revised: 12/14/2020] [Accepted: 12/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The physiological correlates of hedonic/emotional experiences to visual food stimuli are of theoretical and practical interest. Previous psychophysiological studies have shown that facial electromyography (EMG) signals were related to subjective hedonic ratings in response to food images. However, because other data showed positive correlations between hedonic ratings and objective nutritional values of food, whether the facial EMG reactions to food images could reflect the hedonic evaluation or nutritional assessment of food remains unknown. To address this issue, we measured subjective hedonic ratings (liking, wanting, valence, and arousal) and physiological signals (facial EMG of the corrugator supercilii, zygomatic major, masseter, and suprahyoid muscles, skin potential responses, and heart rates) while participants observed food images that had objective nutritional information (caloric, carbohydrate, fat, and protein contents). The results revealed that zygomatic major EMG activity was positively correlated with ratings of liking, wanting, and valence, but not with any objective nutritional value. These data indicate that facial EMG signals in response to food images reflect subjective hedonic experiences, but not objective nutritional values, associated with the food item.
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17
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Siegrist M, Hartmann C. Consumer acceptance of novel food technologies. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2020; 1:343-350. [PMID: 37128090 DOI: 10.1038/s43016-020-0094-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 163] [Impact Index Per Article: 40.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2019] [Accepted: 05/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Novel food technologies are important for food security, safety and sustainability. Consumers, however, are often hesitant to accept them. In this narrative Review, we organize the research describing how heuristics and individual differences among consumers influence the acceptance of agri-food technologies. Associations evoked by a food technology, its perceived naturalness and trust in the industry using it influence consumer acceptance. Food neophobia, disgust sensitivity and cultural values are crucial personality factors for explaining individual differences. Using gene technology, nanotechnology, cultured meat and food irradiation as cases, we explore factors that may explain consumers' acceptance or lack of acceptance. Climate change, food supply shocks caused by crises such as pandemics and population growth are imminent threats to the food system. Therefore, disruptive food technologies will be needed to progress towards a more resilient food system. Taking into account the factors influencing consumers' perceptions of novel food technologies during the early stage of development and introduction will hopefully result in a higher acceptance of such technologies.
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18
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Nath EC, Cannon PR, Philipp MC. Co-acting strangers but not friends influence subjective liking and facial affective responses to food stimuli. Food Qual Prefer 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2019.103865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
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19
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Zogmaister C, Richetin J, Perugini M, Vezzoli M, Songa G. Motivational Relevance Modulates the Predictive Validity of the Implicit Association Test. SOCIAL COGNITION 2020. [DOI: 10.1521/soco.2020.38.3.234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Giulia Songa
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano Bicocca
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20
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Stafford LD, Sekulla A, Morrison E, Fleischman DS, Harvey AJ. Alcohol and disgust: An intimate relationship. Drug Alcohol Depend 2020; 206:107780. [PMID: 31835186 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.107780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2019] [Revised: 11/01/2019] [Accepted: 11/25/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Alcohol intoxication has been associated with increases in risk taking behavior and more ambiguously, alterations in emotional perception. In the first study of its kind, we examine how theories of disgust can be used to help explain these effects. METHODS Using a single-blind procedure, participants (n = 73) were randomly allocated to an alcohol (Males: 0.68 g/kg; Females: 0.60 g/kg) or placebo condition and then completed a psychometric measure of disgust (TDDS). RESULTS Results revealed a non-significant trend toward lower disgust sensitivity in the alcohol versus placebo condition. We did however find a significant negative correlation, whereby increases in breath alcohol level were associated with decreased pathogen disgust. CONCLUSIONS These findings demonstrate a relationship between breath alcohol level and disgust sensitivity which could help explain differences in risk associated behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorenzo D Stafford
- Centre for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, UK.
| | - Alistair Sekulla
- Centre for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, UK
| | - Edward Morrison
- Centre for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, UK
| | - Diana S Fleischman
- Centre for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, UK
| | - Alistair J Harvey
- Centre for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, UK
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21
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Kerry N, Loria RN, Murray DR. Gluttons for Punishment? Experimentally Induced Hunger Unexpectedly Reduces Harshness of Suggested Punishments. ADAPTIVE HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND PHYSIOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s40750-019-00121-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
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22
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Revisiting embodied approach and avoidance effects on behavior: The influence of sitting posture on purchases of rewarding foods. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2019.103889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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23
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Nath EC, Cannon PR, Philipp MC. An unfamiliar social presence reduces facial disgust responses to food stimuli. Food Res Int 2019; 126:108662. [PMID: 31732049 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2019.108662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2019] [Revised: 09/05/2019] [Accepted: 09/09/2019] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Consumers' emotional responses complement sensory and hedonic ratings in the prediction of food choice and consumption behaviour. The challenge with the measurement of consumption emotions is that emotions are highly context dependent. For emotion evaluations to bring greater insight to food research and development, it is essential that the influence of contextual variables on emotion are quantified. The present study contributes to the discussion with an investigation of the effect of an unfamiliar social presence on affective facial responses to visual food stimuli. Seventy participants (52 female and 18 male) viewed food images of varying acceptability either alone, or in the presence of the researcher. Subjective liking ratings were measured using a labelled affective magnitude scale, and facial muscle activity from zygomaticus major (contracted during smiling), corrugator supercilii (contracted during frowning) and levator labii superioris (contracted during nose wrinkling) were measured with an EMG recording system. Controlling for individual differences in facial expressivity and food image acceptability using linear mixed models, it was found that social context did not predict smiling or frowning muscle activity. Social context did predict the intensity of muscle activity indicative of a disgust response, with participants in the observed condition exhibiting less levator activity than participants in the alone condition. Regardless of social context, each muscle was found to have a relationship with subjective liking, with the direction of effects as expected. The results indicate that emotional stimuli and social context both influence food-evoked facial expression and provides support for the utility of facial EMG in measuring food-evoked emotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth C Nath
- School of Psychology, Massey University, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand.
| | - Peter R Cannon
- School of Psychology, Massey University, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand
| | - Michael C Philipp
- School of Psychology, Massey University, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand
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Bonin P, Méot A. Pourquoi avons-nous encore peur des serpents ? Apport de la psychologie évolutionniste à la compréhension de certains biais comportementaux. ANNEE PSYCHOLOGIQUE 2019. [DOI: 10.3917/anpsy1.193.0363] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
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Xu Z, Jing Q, Zhang H, Liu Y. AKT1, PRDM4, and BAX are the natural markers of psychological endurance threshold. Brain Behav 2019; 9:e01306. [PMID: 31099190 PMCID: PMC6625479 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.1306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2019] [Revised: 04/07/2019] [Accepted: 04/09/2019] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Abnormal behavior can cause harm or loss to oneself, the family, and society and may be related to psychological endurance levels. With early identification and early intervention, the occurrence of harm can be prevented and the loss can be reduced. Now there is no clear definition of psychological endurance levels and no accurate measurement tools yet. METHODS This study first proposes the concept of psychological endurance threshold (PET) and defines that as: "the psychological state threshold of human objective physiological characteristics and outbreaks of abnormal behavior led by subjective cognitive level difference". The study hypothesizes that human behavior is related to it, and constructs multiple measurement method tools to measure it. RESULTS Here we show PET exists objectively and can be measured exactly by methods such as psychological endurance threshold measurement table, experience evaluation, dopamine level detection, and genetic testing. In particular, PET is determined by AKT1, PRDM4, and BAX which are the natural markers of PET. CONCLUSIONS The significance of this study is to discover people with abnormal expression of AKT1, PRDM4, and BAX who have lower PET and tend to commit abnormal behavior more easily. Understanding PET will enable people to make self-adjustment or to intervene by professionals as soon as possible and in a timely manner in the face of various negative stimuli in work and life, especially for people with lower PET, people should intervene as early as possible to reduce the harm to the individual, family and society.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhijian Xu
- Guangdong Provincial Government Office, Guangzhou, China
| | - Qicheng Jing
- Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking, China
| | - Houcan Zhang
- Department of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Peking, China
| | - Yue Liu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
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Abstract
The functional basis of disgust in disease avoidance is widely accepted; however, there is disagreement over what disgust is. This is a significant problem, as basic questions about disgust require knowing if single/multiple forms/processes exist. We address this issue with a new model with one form of disgust generated by multiple processes: (a) pure disgust experienced during gastrointestinal illness; (b) somatosensory disgust elicited by specific cues that activate the pure disgust state; (c) anticipatory disgust elicited by associations between distance cues for somatosensory disgust and requiring threat evaluation; (d) simulated disgusts elicited by imagining somatosensory and anticipatory disgust and frequently involving other emotions. Different contamination processes interlink (a–d). The implications of our model for fundamental questions about disgust (e.g., emotion status; continuation into animals) are examined.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Trevor I. Case
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Australia
| | - Megan J. Oaten
- School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Australia
| | | | - Supreet Saluja
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Australia
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27
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Chan EY, Zlatevska N. Is meat sexy? Meat preference as a function of the sexual motivation system. Food Qual Prefer 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2019.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Curtis V, de Barra M. The structure and function of pathogen disgust. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 373:rstb.2017.0208. [PMID: 29866921 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Researchers have long noted that many of the multiple elicitors of disgust have some relation to infectious disease. There is an emerging consensus that disgust evolved in Animalia to direct the behaviours that reduce risk of infection, so-called 'parasite avoidance theory'. If this is correct, then the disgust motive should be structured in a manner that reflects the ways in which infectious disease can be avoided. In this study, we generated a set of items based on the epidemiology of disease transmission. These were then rated for their capacity to elicit disgust by a large, predominantly North American/UK sample and subjected to factor analysis to identify latent variables. While a number of plausible factor solutions emerged, Velicer's MAP (minimum average partial) test suggested six domains: atypical appearance, lesions, sex, hygiene, food and animals. This structure did not exactly mirror the transmission routes of infections, as we initially predicted, but it may rather reflect distinct kinds of behavioural tasks involved in avoiding disease. This finding makes sense from the perspective of a cognitive system that evolved under selection for a behavioural response to threats from the social and biological environment. We suggest that regularly occurring types of infectious disease problems have produced regularities in the domain structure of pathogen disgust and discuss the implications of these results for understanding the structure, function and measurement of motives such as disgust in humans and other animals.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Evolution of pathogen and parasite avoidance behaviours'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Val Curtis
- Department of Disease Control, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK
| | - Mícheál de Barra
- Center for Culture and Evolution, Depatment of Life Sciences, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, Middelsex UB8 3PH, UK
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Lieberman D, Billingsley J, Patrick C. Consumption, contact and copulation: how pathogens have shaped human psychological adaptations. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 373:rstb.2017.0203. [PMID: 29866916 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/06/2018] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Disgust is an emotion intimately linked to pathogen avoidance. Building on prior work, we suggest disgust is an output of programmes that evolved to address three separate adaptive problems: what to eat, what to touch and with whom to have sex. We briefly discuss the architecture of these programmes, specifying their perceptual inputs and the contextual factors that enable them to generate adaptive and flexible behaviour. We propose that our sense of disgust is the result of these programmes and occurs when information-processing circuitries assess low expected values of consumption, low expected values of contact or low expected sexual values. This conception of disgust differs from prior models in that it dissects pathogen-related selection pressures into adaptive problems related to consumption and contact rather than assuming just one pathogen disgust system, and it excludes moral disgust from the domain of disgust proper. Instead, we illustrate how low expected values of consumption and contact as well as low expected sexual values can be used by our moral psychology to provide multiple causal links between disgust and morality.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Evolution of pathogen and parasite avoidance behaviours'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Debra Lieberman
- Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA
| | - Joseph Billingsley
- Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA
| | - Carlton Patrick
- Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA
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30
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Tybur JM, Çınar Ç, Karinen AK, Perone P. Why do people vary in disgust? Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 373:rstb.2017.0204. [PMID: 29866917 PMCID: PMC6000141 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/12/2018] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
People vary in the degree to which they experience disgust toward—and, consequently, avoid—cues to pathogens. Prodigious work has measured this variation and observed that it relates to, among other things, personality, psychopathological tendencies, and moral and political sentiments. Less work has sought to generate hypotheses aimed at explaining why this variation exists in the first place, and even less work has evaluated how well data support these hypotheses. In this paper, we present and review the evidence supporting three such proposals. First, researchers have suggested that variability reflects a general tendency to experience anxiety or emotional distress. Second, researchers have suggested that variability arises from parental modelling, with offspring calibrating their pathogen avoidance based on their parents' reactions to pathogen cues. Third, researchers have suggested that individuals calibrate their disgust sensitivity to the parasite stress of the ecology in which they develop. We conclude that none of these hypotheses is supported by existing data, and we propose directions for future research aimed at better understanding this variation. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Evolution of pathogen and parasite avoidance behaviours’.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua M Tybur
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands .,Institute of Brain and Behaviour, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Çağla Çınar
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Annika K Karinen
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Paola Perone
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Toet A, Kaneko D, de Kruijf I, Ushiama S, van Schaik MG, Brouwer AM, Kallen V, van Erp JBF. CROCUFID: A Cross-Cultural Food Image Database for Research on Food Elicited Affective Responses. Front Psychol 2019; 10:58. [PMID: 30740078 PMCID: PMC6355693 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2018] [Accepted: 01/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
We present CROCUFID: a CROss-CUltural Food Image Database that currently contains 840 images, including 479 food images with detailed metadata and 165 images of non-food items. The database includes images of sweet, savory, natural, and processed food from Western and Asian cuisines. To create sufficient variability in valence and arousal we included images of food with different degrees of appetitiveness (fresh, unfamiliar, molded or rotten, spoiled, and partly consumed). We used a standardized photographing protocol, resulting in high resolution images depicting all food items on a standard background (a white plate), seen from a fixed viewing (45°) angle. CROCUFID is freely available under the CC-By Attribution 4.0 International license and hosted on the OSF repository. The advantages of the CROCUFID database over other databases are its (1) free availability, (2) full coverage of the valence - arousal space, (3) use of standardized recording methods, (4) inclusion of multiple cuisines and unfamiliar foods, (5) availability of normative and demographic data, (6) high image quality and (7) capability to support future (e.g., virtual and augmented reality) applications. Individuals from the United Kingdom (N = 266), North-America (N = 275), and Japan (N = 264) provided normative ratings of valence, arousal, perceived healthiness, and desire-to-eat using visual analog scales (VAS). In addition, for each image we computed 17 characteristics that are known to influence affective observer responses (e.g., texture, regularity, complexity, and colorfulness). Significant differences between groups and significant correlations between image characteristics and normative ratings were in accordance with previous research, indicating the validity of CROCUFID. We expect that CROCUFID will facilitate comparability across studies and advance experimental research on the determinants of food-elicited emotions. We plan to extend CROCUFID in the future with images of food from a wide range of different cuisines and with non-food images (for applications in for instance neuro-physiological studies). We invite researchers from all parts of the world to contribute to this effort by creating similar image sets that can be linked to this collection, so that CROCUFID will grow into a truly multicultural food database.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Toet
- Perceptual and Cognitive Systems, Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Soesterberg, Netherlands
| | - Daisuke Kaneko
- Kikkoman Europe R&D Laboratory B.V., Wageningen, Netherlands
- Microbiology & Systems Biology, Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Zeist, Netherlands
| | - Inge de Kruijf
- Perceptual and Cognitive Systems, Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Soesterberg, Netherlands
| | - Shota Ushiama
- Kikkoman Europe R&D Laboratory B.V., Wageningen, Netherlands
- Department of Research & Development Division, Kikkoman Corporation, Noda, Japan
| | - Martin G. van Schaik
- Perceptual and Cognitive Systems, Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Soesterberg, Netherlands
| | - Anne-Marie Brouwer
- Perceptual and Cognitive Systems, Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Soesterberg, Netherlands
| | - Victor Kallen
- Microbiology & Systems Biology, Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Zeist, Netherlands
| | - Jan B. F. van Erp
- Perceptual and Cognitive Systems, Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Soesterberg, Netherlands
- Research Group Human Media Interaction, University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands
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Blanco-Hinojo L, Pujol J, Esteba-Castillo S, Martínez-Vilavella G, Giménez-Palop O, Gabau E, Casamitjana L, Deus J, Novell R, Caixàs A. Lack of response to disgusting food in the hypothalamus and related structures in Prader Willi syndrome. NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL 2019; 21:101662. [PMID: 30639180 PMCID: PMC6412080 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2019.101662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2018] [Revised: 11/22/2018] [Accepted: 01/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Objective To investigate, based on a putative abnormal neural processing of disgusting signals in Prader Willi syndrome (PWS) patients, the brain response to visual representations of disgusting food in PWS using functional MRI (fMRI). Methods Twenty-one genetically-confirmed PWS patients, 30 age- and sex-matched and 28 BMI-matched control subjects viewed a movie depicting disgusting food-related scenes interspersed with scenes of appetizing food while fMRI was acquired. Brain activation maps were compared between groups and correlated with disgust and hunger ratings. Results At the cortical level, the response to disgusting food representations in PWS patients was qualitatively similar to that of control subjects, albeit less extensive, and engaged brain regions typically related to visually-evoked disgust, such as the anterior insula/frontal operculum, the lateral frontal cortex and visual areas. By contrast, activation was almost absent in limbic structures directly concerned with the regulation of instinctive behavior robustly activated in control subjects, such as the hypothalamus, amygdala/hippocampus and periaqueductal gray. Conclusions Our study provides novel insights into the neural substrates of appetite control in a genetically-mediated cause of obesity. The presence of significant cortical changes further indicates that PWS patients consciously process disgusting stimuli, but the virtual absence of response in deep, limbic structures suggests that disgusting signals do not adequately reach the primary brain system for the appetite control. We report an abnormal pattern of brain response to images of disgusting food in PWS. The activation demonstrated by PWS patients was restricted to the cerebral cortex. Higher subjective disgust ratings were associated with greater insula activation. In contrast, the neural response was almost absent in deep subcortical structures. Disgusting signals may not adequately reach a main brain system for appetite control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Blanco-Hinojo
- MRI Research Unit, Department of Radiology, Hospital del Mar, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; Centro Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM G21, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jesus Pujol
- MRI Research Unit, Department of Radiology, Hospital del Mar, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; Centro Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM G21, 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Susanna Esteba-Castillo
- Specialized Service in Mental Health and Intellectual Disability, Institut Assistència Sanitària (IAS), Parc Hospitalari Martí i Julià, 17190 Girona, Spain.
| | | | - Olga Giménez-Palop
- Endocrinology and Nutrition Department, Parc Taulí Hospital Universitari, Institut d'Investigació i Innovació Parc Taulí I3PT- UAB, 08208 Sabadell, Spain
| | - Elisabeth Gabau
- Clinical Genetics, Pediatrics Department, Parc Taulí Hospital Universitari, Institut d'Investigació i Innovació Parc Taulí I3PT- UAB, 08208 Sabadell, Spain.
| | - Laia Casamitjana
- Endocrinology and Nutrition Department, Parc Taulí Hospital Universitari, Institut d'Investigació i Innovació Parc Taulí I3PT- UAB, 08208 Sabadell, Spain.
| | - Joan Deus
- MRI Research Unit, Department of Radiology, Hospital del Mar, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Ramón Novell
- Specialized Service in Mental Health and Intellectual Disability, Institut Assistència Sanitària (IAS), Parc Hospitalari Martí i Julià, 17190 Girona, Spain.
| | - Assumpta Caixàs
- Endocrinology and Nutrition Department, Parc Taulí Hospital Universitari, Institut d'Investigació i Innovació Parc Taulí I3PT- UAB, 08208 Sabadell, Spain
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Anderson EC, Wormwood J, Barrett LF, Quigley KS. Vegetarians' and omnivores' affective and physiological responses to images of food. Food Qual Prefer 2018; 71:96-105. [PMID: 31217670 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2018.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Many vegetarians report that meat is unpleasant, but little else is known about their affective responses to meat and non-meat foods. Here we explored affective responses to food images in vegetarians and omnivores and tested the hypothesis that vegetarians have global differences in affective processing (e.g., increased disgust sensitivity). We presented pictures of different food items and recorded participants' affective experience while we recorded peripheral physiology. We found that vegetarians' self-reported experience of meat meal images was less pleasant than omnivores', but that other food images were equally pleasant across the two groups. Moreover, vegetarians and omnivores had strikingly similar physiological responses to all food images - including meat meals. We interpret these results from a psychological constructionist perspective, which posits that individuals conceptualize changes in their bodily states in ways that match their beliefs, such that increased sympathetic nervous system activity may be conceptualized as an experience of excitement about a delicious meat meal for omnivores but as an experience of displeasure for a vegetarian who believes meat is cruel, wasteful, impure, or unhealthy. This interpretation is consistent with emerging neuroscience evidence that the brain constructs experience by predicting and making meaning of internal sensations based on past experience and knowledge.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Lisa Feldman Barrett
- Northeastern University, United States.,Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, United States
| | - Karen S Quigley
- Northeastern University, United States.,Edith Nurse Rogers Memorial (Bedford) VA Hospital, United States
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Al-Shawaf L, Lewis DM, Buss DM. Sex Differences in Disgust: Why Are Women More Easily Disgusted Than Men? EMOTION REVIEW 2017. [DOI: 10.1177/1754073917709940] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Women have consistently higher levels of disgust than men. This sex difference is substantial in magnitude, highly replicable, emerges with diverse assessment methods, and affects a wide array of outcomes—including job selection, mate choice, food aversions, and psychological disorders. Despite the importance of this far-reaching sex difference, sound theoretical explanations have lagged behind the empirical discoveries. In this article, we focus on the evolutionary-functional level of analysis, outlining hypotheses capable of explaining why women have higher levels of disgust than men. We present four hypotheses for sexual disgust and six for pathogen disgust, along with testable predictions. Discussion focuses on additional new hypotheses and on future research capable of adjudicating among these competing, but not mutually exclusive, hypotheses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laith Al-Shawaf
- Department of Psychology, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, USA
- College of Life Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study, Germany
| | - David M.G. Lewis
- School of Psychology and Exercise Science, Murdoch University, Australia
| | - David M. Buss
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, USA
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Sarabian C, Ngoubangoye B, MacIntosh AJJ. Avoidance of biological contaminants through sight, smell and touch in chimpanzees. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2017; 4:170968. [PMID: 29291090 PMCID: PMC5717664 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.170968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2017] [Accepted: 10/09/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Avoiding biological contaminants is a well-known manifestation of the adaptive system of disgust. In theory, animals evolved with such a system to prevent pathogen and parasite infection. Bodily products are human-universal disgust elicitors, but whether they also elicit avoidance behaviour in non-human primates has yet to be tested. Here, we report experimental evidence that potential exposure to biological contaminants (faeces, blood, semen), as perceived via multiple sensory modalities (visual, olfactory, tactile), might influence feeding decisions in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes)-our closest phylogenetic relatives. Although somewhat mixed, our results do show increased latencies to feed, tendencies to maintain greater distances from contaminants and/or outright refusals to consume food in test versus control conditions. Overall, these findings are consistent with the parasite avoidance theory of disgust, although the presence of biological contaminants did not preclude feeding entirely. The avoidance behaviours observed hint at the origins of disgust in humans, and further comparative research is now needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cecile Sarabian
- Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama 484-8506, Japan
| | - Barthelemy Ngoubangoye
- Centre de Primatologie, Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville, Franceville BP 769, Gabon
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37
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Stevenson RJ, Case TI, Oaten MJ. Salt-Induced Thirst Results in Increased Finickiness in Humans. PSYCHOLOGICAL RECORD 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/bf03395717] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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38
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Bartholdy S, Cheng J, Schmidt U, Campbell IC, O'Daly OG. Task-Based and Questionnaire Measures of Inhibitory Control Are Differentially Affected by Acute Food Restriction and by Motivationally Salient Food Stimuli in Healthy Adults. Front Psychol 2016; 7:1303. [PMID: 27621720 PMCID: PMC5002414 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2016] [Accepted: 08/15/2016] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Adaptive eating behaviors are dependent on an interaction between motivational states (e.g., hunger) and the ability to control one's own behavior (inhibitory control). Indeed, behavioral paradigms are emerging that seek to train inhibitory control to improve eating behavior. However, inhibitory control is a multifaceted concept, and it is not yet clear how different types (e.g., reactive motor inhibition, proactive motor inhibition, reward-related inhibition) are affected by hunger. Such knowledge will provide insight into the contexts in which behavioral training paradigms would be most effective. The present study explored the impact of promoting a "need" state (hunger) together with motivationally salient distracting stimuli (food/non-food images) on inhibitory control in 46 healthy adults. Participants attended two study sessions, once after eating breakfast as usual and once after acute food restriction on the morning of the session. In each session, participants completed questionnaires on hunger, mood and inhibitory control, and undertook task-based measures of inhibitory control, and had physiological measurements (height, weight, and blood glucose) obtained by a researcher. Acute food restriction influenced task-based assessments but not questionnaire measures of inhibitory control, suggesting that hunger affects observable behavioral control but not self-reported inhibitory control. After acute food restriction, participants showed greater temporal discounting (devaluation of future rewards), and subjective hunger and these were inversely correlated with stop accuracy on the stop signal task. Finally, participants generally responded faster when food-related distractor images were presented, compared to non-food images, independent of state. This suggests that although food stimuli motivate approach behavior, stimulus relevance does not impact inhibitory control in healthy individuals, nor interact with motivational state. These findings may provide some explanation for poorer inhibitory control often reported in studies of individuals who practice restraint over eating.
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Affiliation(s)
- Savani Bartholdy
- Section of Eating Disorders, Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London London, UK
| | - Jiumu Cheng
- Department of Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London London, UK
| | - Ulrike Schmidt
- Section of Eating Disorders, Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London London, UK
| | - Iain C Campbell
- Section of Eating Disorders, Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London London, UK
| | - Owen G O'Daly
- Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London London, UK
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40
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Al-Shawaf L. The evolutionary psychology of hunger. Appetite 2016; 105:591-5. [PMID: 27328100 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2016.06.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2016] [Revised: 06/14/2016] [Accepted: 06/15/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
An evolutionary psychological perspective suggests that emotions can be understood as coordinating mechanisms whose job is to regulate various psychological and physiological programs in the service of solving an adaptive problem. This paper suggests that it may also be fruitful to approach hunger from this coordinating mechanism perspective. To this end, I put forward an evolutionary task analysis of hunger, generating novel a priori hypotheses about the coordinating effects of hunger on psychological processes such as perception, attention, categorization, and memory. This approach appears empirically fruitful in that it yields a bounty of testable new hypotheses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laith Al-Shawaf
- Department of Psychology, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey; College of Life Sciences, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (Institute for Advanced Study), Germany.
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Kraus AA, Piqueras-Fiszman B. Sandwich or sweets? An assessment of two novel implicit association tasks to capture dynamic motivational tendencies and stable evaluations towards foods. Food Qual Prefer 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2015.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Topolinski S, Boecker L. Mouth-watering words: Articulatory inductions of eating-like mouth movements increase perceived food palatability. Appetite 2016; 99:112-120. [DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2016.01.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2015] [Revised: 12/21/2015] [Accepted: 01/09/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Schroeder PA, Lohmann J, Butz MV, Plewnia C. Behavioral Bias for Food Reflected in Hand Movements: A Preliminary Study with Healthy Subjects. CYBERPSYCHOLOGY BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL NETWORKING 2015; 19:120-6. [PMID: 26562002 DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2015.0311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Palatable food induces general approach tendencies when compared to nonfood stimuli. For eating disorders, the modification of an attention bias toward food was proposed as a treatment option. Similar approaches have been efficient for other psychiatric conditions and, recently, successfully incorporated approach motivation. The direct impact of attentional biases on spontaneous natural behavior has hardly been investigated so far, although actions may serve as an intervention target, especially seeing the recent advances in the field of embodied cognition. In this study, we addressed the interplay of motor action execution and cognition when interacting with food objects. In a Virtual Reality (VR) setting, healthy participants repeatedly grasped or warded high-calorie food or hand-affordant ball objects using their own dominant hand. This novel experimental paradigm revealed an attention-like bias in hand-based actions: 3D objects of food were collected faster than ball objects, and this difference correlated positively with both individual body mass index and diet-related attitudes. The behavioral bias for food in hand movements complements several recent experimental and neurophysiological findings. Implications for the use of VR in the treatment of eating-related health problems are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp A Schroeder
- 1 Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Neurophysiology & Interventional Neuropsychiatry, University of Tübingen , Tübingen, Germany .,2 Department of Psychology, Diagnostics and Cognitive Neuropsychology, University of Tübingen , Tübingen, Germany
| | - Johannes Lohmann
- 3 Department of Computer Science, Cognitive Modelling, University of Tübingen , Tübingen, Germany
| | - Martin V Butz
- 3 Department of Computer Science, Cognitive Modelling, University of Tübingen , Tübingen, Germany
| | - Christian Plewnia
- 1 Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Neurophysiology & Interventional Neuropsychiatry, University of Tübingen , Tübingen, Germany .,4 Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN) , Tübingen, Germany
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Meier L, Friedrich H, Federspiel A, Jann K, Morishima Y, Landis BN, Wiest R, Strik W, Dierks T. Rivalry of homeostatic and sensory-evoked emotions: Dehydration attenuates olfactory disgust and its neural correlates. Neuroimage 2015; 114:120-7. [PMID: 25818686 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.03.048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2014] [Revised: 03/17/2015] [Accepted: 03/18/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Neural correlates have been described for emotions evoked by states of homeostatic imbalance (e.g. thirst, hunger, and breathlessness) and for emotions induced by external sensory stimulation (such as fear and disgust). However, the neurobiological mechanisms of their interaction, when they are experienced simultaneously, are still unknown. We investigated the interaction on the neurobiological and the perceptional level using subjective ratings, serum parameters, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a situation of emotional rivalry, when both a homeostatic and a sensory-evoked emotion were experienced at the same time. Twenty highly dehydrated male subjects rated a disgusting odor as significantly less repulsive when they were thirsty. On the neurobiological level, we found that this reduction in subjective disgust during thirst was accompanied by a significantly reduced neural activity in the insular cortex, a brain area known to be considerably involved in processing of disgust. Furthermore, during the experience of disgust in the satiated condition, we observed a significant functional connectivity between brain areas responding to the disgusting odor, which was absent during the stimulation in the thirsty condition. These results suggest interference of conflicting emotions: an acute homeostatic imbalance can attenuate the experience of another emotion evoked by the sensory perception of a potentially harmful external agent. This finding offers novel insights with regard to the behavioral relevance of biologically different types of emotions, indicating that some types of emotions are more imperative for behavior than others. As a general principle, this modulatory effect during the conflict of homeostatic and sensory-evoked emotions may function to safeguard survival.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lea Meier
- Division of Systems Neuroscience of Psychopathology, Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bolligenstrasse 111, CH-3000 Bern 60, Switzerland
| | - Hergen Friedrich
- Rhinology, Smell and Taste Outpatient Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Bern University Hospital, Inselspital, Freiburgstrasse, CH-3010 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Andrea Federspiel
- Psychiatric Neuroimaging Unit, Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bolligenstrasse 111, CH-3000 Bern 60, Switzerland
| | - Kay Jann
- Psychiatric Neuroimaging Unit, Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bolligenstrasse 111, CH-3000 Bern 60, Switzerland; Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, Department of Neurology, University of California Los Angeles, 90095 Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Yosuke Morishima
- Division of Systems Neuroscience of Psychopathology, Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bolligenstrasse 111, CH-3000 Bern 60, Switzerland; Japan Science and Technology Agency, PRESTO, 4-1-8 Honcho Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan
| | - Basile Nicolas Landis
- Rhinology, Smell and Taste Outpatient Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Bern University Hospital, Inselspital, Freiburgstrasse, CH-3010 Bern, Switzerland; Rhinology-Olfactology Unit, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Geneva Neuroscience Center (CMU), University of Geneva Hospitals, Rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil 4, CH-1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland
| | - Roland Wiest
- Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Inselspital, University of Bern, Freiburgstrasse, CH-3010 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Werner Strik
- Division of Systems Neuroscience of Psychopathology, Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bolligenstrasse 111, CH-3000 Bern 60, Switzerland
| | - Thomas Dierks
- Division of Systems Neuroscience of Psychopathology, Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bolligenstrasse 111, CH-3000 Bern 60, Switzerland.
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Al-Shawaf L, Conroy-Beam D, Asao K, Buss DM. Human Emotions: An Evolutionary Psychological Perspective. EMOTION REVIEW 2015. [DOI: 10.1177/1754073914565518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 105] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Evolutionary approaches to the emotions have traditionally focused on a subset of emotions that are shared with other species, characterized by distinct signals, and designed to solve a few key adaptive problems. By contrast, an evolutionary psychological approach (a) broadens the range of adaptive problems emotions have evolved to solve, (b) includes emotions that lack distinctive signals and are unique to humans, and (c) synthesizes an evolutionary approach with an information-processing perspective. On this view, emotions are superordinate mechanisms that evolved to coordinate the activity of other programs in the solution of adaptive problems. We illustrate the heuristic value of this approach by furnishing novel hypotheses for disgust and sexual arousal and highlighting unexplored areas of research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laith Al-Shawaf
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, USA
| | | | - Kelly Asao
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, USA
| | - David M. Buss
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, USA
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Soussignan R, Schaal B, Boulanger V, Garcia S, Jiang T. Emotional communication in the context of joint attention for food stimuli: effects on attentional and affective processing. Biol Psychol 2014; 104:173-83. [PMID: 25541512 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2014.12.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2014] [Revised: 12/07/2014] [Accepted: 12/12/2014] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Guided by distinct theoretical frameworks (the embodiment theories, shared-signal hypothesis, and appraisal theories), we examined the effects of gaze direction and emotional expressions (joy, disgust, and neutral) of virtual characters on attention orienting and affective reactivity of participants while they were engaged in joint attention for food stimuli contrasted by preference (disliked, moderately liked, and liked). The participants were exposed to videos of avatars looking at food and displaying facial expressions with their gaze directed either toward the food only or toward the food and participants consecutively. We recorded eye-tracking responses, heart rate, facial electromyography (zygomatic, corrugator, and levator labii regions), and food wanting/liking. The avatars' joy faces increased the participants' zygomatic reactions and food liking, with mutual eye contact boosting attentional responses. Eye contact also fostered disgust reactions to disliked food, regardless of the avatars' expressions. The findings show that joint attention for food accompanied by face-to-face emotional communication elicits differential attentional and affective responses. The findings appear consistent with the appraisal theories of emotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Soussignan
- Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, UMR 6265 CNRS, Université de Bourgogne-Inra, Dijon, France.
| | - Benoist Schaal
- Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, UMR 6265 CNRS, Université de Bourgogne-Inra, Dijon, France
| | - Véronique Boulanger
- Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, UMR 6265 CNRS, Université de Bourgogne-Inra, Dijon, France
| | - Samuel Garcia
- Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, UMR 5292 CNRS-Inserm, Université de Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Tao Jiang
- Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, UMR 5292 CNRS-Inserm, Université de Lyon 1, Lyon, France
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Sacco DF, Young SG, Hugenberg K. Balancing competing motives: adaptive trade-offs are necessary to satisfy disease avoidance and interpersonal affiliation goals. PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN 2014; 40:1611-23. [PMID: 25278107 DOI: 10.1177/0146167214552790] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
The current research provides novel evidence for motivational trade-offs between the two fundamental human goals of pursuing social affiliation and avoiding disease. In Study 1, participants completed a writing prime that manipulated inclusionary status and found that socially excluded participants indicated lower feelings of current disease susceptibility compared with control and socially included participants. In Study 2, participants were included or excluded via Cyberball and then indicated their preferences for symmetrical versus asymmetrical faces. Socially excluded participants displayed lower preferences for symmetrical faces--a cue associated with greater disease resistance. Finally, in Study 3, participants were primed with either disease threat or a general negative affective state and then indicated their current affiliation interest. Activated disease concerns uniquely led participants to display less interest in social affiliation. Taken together, affiliation needs result in disease avoidance down-regulation to aid reaffiliation, whereas disease concerns result in affiliation down-regulation to facilitate pathogen avoidance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donald F Sacco
- The University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, USA
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Curtis VA. Infection-avoidance behaviour in humans and other animals. Trends Immunol 2014; 35:457-64. [PMID: 25256957 DOI: 10.1016/j.it.2014.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 156] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2014] [Revised: 08/25/2014] [Accepted: 08/25/2014] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Compared with living free, the parasitic way of life has many attractions. Parasites create problems for all animals. Potential hosts can respond by learning to live with parasites (tolerance), actively fighting them (resistance), or they can avoid becoming infected in the first place (avoidance). I propose here a new classification of avoidance behaviour according to the epidemiology of infection risk, where animals must avoid (i) conspecifics, (ii) parasites and their vectors, (iii) parasite-rich environments, and (iv) niche infestation. I further explore how the disgust adaptive system, which coordinates avoidance behaviour, may form a continuum with the immune system through the sharing of signalling pathways, sites of action, and evolutionary history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valerie A Curtis
- The Hygiene Centre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 4HT, UK
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50
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Lee EM, Ambler JK, Sagarin BJ. Effects of subjective sexual arousal on sexual, pathogen, and moral disgust sensitivity in women and men. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2014; 43:1115-21. [PMID: 24595916 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-014-0271-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2012] [Revised: 05/08/2013] [Accepted: 11/12/2013] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
The present experiment tested a novel method of manipulating subjective sexual arousal to examine the effects of sexual arousal on disgust sensitivity. Participants were instructed to employ their own preferred methods of achieving sexual or physiological arousal in the privacy of their own home to reach a target state of arousal. Participants then completed the Three-Domain Disgust Scale (Tybur, Lieberman, & Griskevicius, 2009), which measures sensitivity to sexual, pathogen, and moral disgust. The sexual arousal manipulation caused large, homogenous increases in sexual arousal in women and men. In women, sexual arousal (but not physiological arousal) significantly reduced sensitivity to sexual disgust and marginally increased sensitivity to pathogen disgust. In men, sexual arousal did not decrease disgust sensitivity in any domain. Findings support the evolutionary hypothesis that sexual arousal inhibits sexual disgust, which facilitates an organism's willingness to engage in high-risk, but evolutionarily necessary, reproductive behaviors, an effect that could be particularly important for women.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellen M Lee
- Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, 60115, USA,
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