Determining the relationship between alexithymia, skin sensitivity, and disgust

Abstract

Alexithymia represents an individual's inability to recognize their own or someone else's emotions and also the inability to communicate them. It has a documented influence on many cognitive and emotional activities of human life. Skin and touch are two of the primary vehicles for conveying emotions between individuals. It is on account of the connection between these elements that this study has focused on determining more precisely the relation between skin related satisfaction and disgust and alexithymia. In total 357 students participated in the survey, 286 (82.9%) were female and the average participant age was 20.54 (min=19; max=26; SD=1.24). Apart from this demographical information, the survey consisted of the Skin Satisfaction Questionnaire (TSD-Q 30), the Toronto Alexithymia Questionnaire (TAS-20), and the Disgust Propensity and Sensitivity Questionnaire (DPSS). Based on an analysis of the survey results, Alexithymia was shown to correlate strongly with the shame aspect of skin satisfaction, but only with TAS-20 factors 1 and 2. A weak correlation was demonstrated between positive disgust and alexithymia. Though only a weak correlation, or no correlations as all, between touch satisfaction and alexithymia was established, touch satisfaction and shame accounted for 21.2% of alexithymia variance, while disgust measurement scales accounted for only 1.3%.

Alexithymia, disgust and the inferiority/superiority complex: An exploratory study

“…DPSS is scale measuring disgust propensity and disgust sensitivity as two separate constructs consisting of a total of 12 items. The scale has been used successfully in Serbian language [9] . The internal conssictancy of the subscales borders on the lower end of acceptable values with disgust propensity (DP) having α values of .77 and disgust sensitivity (DS) having N α value of .73.…”

“…The Disgust Propensity and Sensitivity Scale (DPSS) has been developed to measure disgust in such a manner [13] . Out of its many measured relationship at this point we would like to choose and highlight the relationship between disgust sensitivity, albeit measured by a different scale than the DPSS that we used in our study, and trait Neuroticism, and that they stand in weak positive correlation [14] , there is also a weak positive correlation between alexithymia and disgust sensitivity and propensity [9] .…”

“…The difficultie-identifying-feelings facet of alexithymia has been associated with expiriences of physical and/or emotional negdlect in childhood [8] . Dissatisfaction with parental youch in adulthud has been to an extent linked with alexithymia [9] .…”