Disgust Proneness and Personal Space in Children

Abstract

Individuals vary in their personal space (PS) size as reflected by the preferred distance to another person during social interactions. A previous study with adults showed that pathogen-relevant disgust proneness (DP) predicted PS magnitude. The present study investigated whether this association between DP and PS already exists in 8- to 12-year-old children (144 girls, 101 boys). The children answered a disgust questionnaire with the two trait dimensions “core disgust (contact with spoiled food and poor hygiene) and “death-relevant disgust” (imagined contact with dead and dying organisms). PS magnitude was assessed with a paper–pencil measure (drawing a PS bubble; Experiment 1) or with the stop-distance task (preferred distance to an approaching woman or man; Experiment 2). In both experiments, only death-related disgust predicted PS magnitude and only if the approaching person was male. The current study questions the relevance of pathogen-related disgust in children for regulating interpersonal distance.

Interpersonal distance preferences: an unexplored consequence of hearing loss

“…In this situation, the participant may have perceived the experimenter as a reliable stranger, and this perception may have led to a decrease in his perception of danger, as stated in Lough's study [17]. Since children's perception of adult strangers as more threatening may lead to different results, the results to be collected from children with hearing loss will be valuable [7].…”

“…Most people value their personal space and feel discomfort, anger, or anxiety when their personal space is violated [6]. When defining personal space, characteristics such as age, gender, mood, and facial expression of the approaching person may affect the preferred interpersonal distance [7]. For example, it has been found that younger individuals prefer closer interpersonal distances than older individuals [4].…”

Considering uncontaminated food as an early-emerging and previously ignored disgust elicitor.

“…In Study 1, a group of adults was surveyed about the items they and their children find disgusting. As we noted above, prior measures of disgust sensitivity for children were adapted from adult measures (Muris et al, 2012; Nadeau et al, 2017; Schienle & Schwab, 2019; Viar-Paxton et al, 2015), and theories of a mature theory of disgust focus on abstract concepts, rather than sensory properties (Rozin & Fallon, 1987; for a review, see Rottman et al, 2019). As such, these measures tend to omit questions about uncontaminated foods when examining disgust sensitivity.…”

“…The developmental antecedents of disgust (observed in children) are often considered to be immature steps preceding the adult state. For example, rather than eliciting responses from children regarding what they find to be disgusting, disgust sensitivity scales for children have typically been directly adapted from existing adult scales (Muris et al, 2012; Nadeau et al, 2017; Schienle & Schwab, 2019; Viar-Paxton et al, 2015), but without items that might be inappropriate for young children (e.g., those dealing with sexual behavior). In addition, theories of the development of disgust have often focused on the transition from concrete to abstract thinking (for a review, see Rottman et al, 2019).…”