Body odour disgust sensitivity is associated with xenophobia: evidence from nine countries across five continents

Zakrzewska, Marta; Challma, Sandra; Lindholm, Torun; Cancino-Montecinos, Sebastian; Olofsson, Jonas; Liuzza, Marco Tullio

doi:10.1098/rsos.221407

Cited by 7 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…High BODS scores are positively associated with disgust ratings of sweat odors suggesting that BODS is a valid marker of olfactory disgust [ 46 ]. Our finding that body odor disgust predicts the tendency to classify individuals as sick, but not discriminability, may be linked with previous research showing that individuals that are highly disgusted by body odors have more negative views of refugees [ 47 , 48 ] and sympathize more with right-wing authoritarianism [ 49 ], two ideological dispositions that may restrict inter-group contact and social mobility. Hence, it could be speculated that high body odor disgust sensitivity arises from a dispositional bias that leans toward classifying other individuals as pathogen threats.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Discriminating between sick and healthy faces based on early sickness cues: an exploratory analysis of sex differences

Tognetti,

Thunell,

Zakrzewska

et al. 2023

Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health

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Background and objectives It has been argued that sex and disease-related traits should influence how observers respond to sensory sickness cues. In fact, there is evidence that humans can detect sensory cues related to infection in others, but lack of power from earlier studies prevents any firm conclusion regarding whether perception of sickness cues is associated with sex and personality traits. Here, we tested whether women (relative to men), individuals with poorer self-reported health, and who are more sensitive to disgust, vulnerable to disease, and concerned about their health, overestimate the presence of, and/or are better at detecting sickness cues. Methodology In a large online study, 343 women and 340 men were instructed to identify the sick faces from a series of sick and healthy photographs of volunteers with an induced acute experimental inflammation. Participants also completed several disease-related questionnaires. Results While both men and women could discriminate between sick and healthy individuals above chance level, exploratory analyses revealed that women outperformed men in accuracy and speed of discrimination. Further, we demonstrated that higher disgust sensitivity to body odors is associated with a more liberal decision criterion for categorizing faces as sick. Conclusion Our findings give strong support for the human ability to discriminate between sick and healthy individuals based on early facial cues of sickness and suggest that women are significantly, although only slightly, better at this task. If this finding is replicated, future studies should determine whether women's better performance is related to increased avoidance of sick individuals.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Discriminating between sick and healthy faces based on early sickness cues: an exploratory analysis of sex differences

Tognetti,

Thunell,

Zakrzewska

et al. 2023

Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health

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“…In a recent cross-national study on nine different countries (Italy, Sweden, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong, Kenya, Nigeria, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom; Zakrzewska et al, 2023a), we found preliminary evidence for the validity of the BODS in these countries. However, in this study, we capitalize on previously collected datasets (one from the aforementioned study and one from an unpublished study) to validate the BODS more thoroughly in the Italian population.…”

Section: Open Access Edited Bymentioning

confidence: 55%

“…In previous studies, we also provided criterion validity (Liuzza et al, 2017b;Zakrzewska et al, 2023b). In terms of nomological validity, the BODS also predicted relevant outcomes, such as explicit (Zakrzewska et al, 2019(Zakrzewska et al, , 2023a and implicit xenophobia (Zakrzewska and Liuzza et al, 2019), authoritarianism (Liuzza et al, 2018), and moral harshness (Liuzza et al, 2019). Importantly, in the study on the relationship between the BODS and xenophobia in a US sample, we also refined the measurement model of the BODS, as we found it better modeled by a bifactor model with a general BODS factor, and two specific factors, one for the internal, and one for the external source.…”

Section: Open Access Edited Bymentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Moreover, it is harder to unlearn an association between a neutral stimulus and disgust than fear (see a recent meta-analysis by Mitchell et al, 2024). Similarly, disgust may be triggered by stimuli that are not directly associated with pathogen threats, such as obese people (Park et al, 2007), outgroup members from unfamiliar groups (Faulkner et al, 2004;Zakrzewska et al, 2019Zakrzewska et al, , 2020Zakrzewska et al, , 2023aO'Shea et al, 2020; see Liuzza, 2020 for a review), or members of sexual minorities (Inbar et al, 2009(Inbar et al, , 2012van Leeuwen et al, 2023).…”

Section: Open Access Edited Bymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Italian validation of the body odor disgust scale

Liuzza,

Zakrzewska,

Olofsson

2024

Front. Behav. Neurosci.

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IntroductionDisgust sensitivity to body odors plays a role in a set of psychological mechanisms supposedly evolved to avoid pathogens. To assess individual differences in body odor disgust, we previously developed the body odor disgust scale (BODS) and validated it in English. The BODS presents six scenarios where disgust could be evoked by smells coming from an internal source and an external source. The present study aimed to validate the BODS in the Italian population and to find further evidence for its structural, construct, and criterion validity.MethodsWe used two large samples (N = 1,050, F = 527; and N = 402, F = 203, respectively) that were representative of the Italian population for sex and age.ResultsAcross these two studies, we confirmed the hypothesized bifactor structure, with all the items loading onto a general body odor disgust sensitivity factor, and on two specific factors related to the internal structure. In terms of construct validity, we found that the BODS converged with pathogen disgust sensitivity of the three-domain disgust scale (TDDS) but was distinct from a general propensity to experience negative emotions. The BODS showed criterion validity in predicting the behavioral intentions toward COVID-19 avoidance behavior, although it did not seem to be incrementally valid when compared to the TDDS pathogen subscale. We also established scalar measurement invariance of the BODS regarding gender and found that women display higher levels of BODS.DiscussionResults from the Italian version of the BODS indicate its structural, construct, nomological and criterion validity. Furthermore, our result on sex differences in disgust sensitivity are consistent with previous literature, and we discuss them in the broader context of cross-cultural and primate findings that points toward a possible evolutionary explanation of this difference.

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“…The Body Odor Disgust Scale (BODS) was used to assess individual differences in disgust response to a variety of body odors. The BODS was first validated in English [ 12 ] and its Italian psychometric properties were assessed within a multi country study [ 34 ] The scale is a self-report questionnaire composed of 12 items and presents participants with a series of descriptions of situations (e.g., “You are standing next to a stranger and notice that the t-shirt they are wearing smells strongly from their sweat.”). Participants are asked to report on a five-point Likert-type item ranging from 1 ( Not disgusting at all ) to 5 ( Extremely disgusting ) the degree to which they found the situation disgusting.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship between disgust and orthorexia nervosa and psychometric properties of the Italian Dusseldorf orthorexia scale in a general population sample

Aloi,

Moniaci,

Rania

et al. 2023

J Eat Disord

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Background It remains unclear among clinicians and researchers whether orthorexia nervosa (ON) is a part of the obsessive–compulsive disorder spectrum or eating disorders. Disgust seems to be a shared psychopathological factor in these clinical presentations, indicating a potentially crucial role in ON. On the other hand, numerous psychometric tools have been developed to evaluate ON. The Dusseldorf Orthorexia Scale (DOS) was recently validated in an Italian sample. However, the study's primary limitation was that the scale was only administered to undergraduate university students. This study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties (including factorial structure, reliability, and measurement invariance conditional on sex) of the Italian version of the DOS (I-DOS) on a sample from the general population. Additionally, the study sought to determine the nomological validity of the I-DOS by examining its relationship with disgust sensitivity. Methods A sample of 521 participants took part in this study and completed a battery that assessed ON and disgust sensitivity. To assess the I-DOS structure, reliability, and measurement invariance we respectively conducted confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), computed McDonalds’s omega, and performed hierarchical series of multigroup CFAs. Then, we tested the relationship between ON and disgust sensitivity. Results CFA confirmed the unifactorial model of I-DOS and it respected the configural, metric, and strict invariance while a partial scalar invariance was achieved. It also showed good reliability with an omega of 0.87. In addition, we found a positive relationship between ON and disgust sensitivity, thus confirming the nomological validity of I-DOS. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the Italian version of the Dusseldorf orthorexia scale (I-DOS) exhibits strong psychometric properties and can be an effective instrument for assessing ON in a general population sample. Notably, the most significant and innovative outcome was the positive correlation between ON and disgust sensitivity. As disgust has been linked to other clinical presentations, this preliminary result could serve as a foundation for future research exploring this phenomenon in greater detail.

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Body odour disgust sensitivity is associated with xenophobia: evidence from nine countries across five continents

Cited by 7 publications

References 36 publications

Discriminating between sick and healthy faces based on early sickness cues: an exploratory analysis of sex differences

Discriminating between sick and healthy faces based on early sickness cues: an exploratory analysis of sex differences

Italian validation of the body odor disgust scale

Relationship between disgust and orthorexia nervosa and psychometric properties of the Italian Dusseldorf orthorexia scale in a general population sample

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