Disgust Sensitivity and the Neurophysiology of Left-Right Political Orientations

Abstract

Disgust has been described as the most primitive and central of emotions. Thus, it is not surprising that it shapes behaviors in a variety of organisms and in a variety of contexts—including homo sapien politics. People who believe they would be bothered by a range of hypothetical disgusting situations display an increased likelihood of displaying right-of-center rather than left-of-center political orientations. Given its primal nature and essential value in avoiding pathogens disgust likely has an effect even without registering in conscious beliefs. In this article, we demonstrate that individuals with marked involuntary physiological responses to disgusting images, such as of a man eating a large mouthful of writhing worms, are more likely to self-identify as conservative and, especially, to oppose gay marriage than are individuals with more muted physiological responses to the same images. This relationship holds even when controlling for the degree to which respondents believe themselves to be disgust sensitive and suggests that people's physiological predispositions help to shape their political orientations.

Disgust and the Politics of Sex: Exposure to a Disgusting Odorant Increases Politically Conservative Views on Sex and Decreases Support for Gay Marriage

“…Nonetheless, the present findings suggest that odor-induced disgust had a stronger effect on sexual attitudes than non-sexual attitudes (save for Biblical truth). The effects of disgust on sex-related attitudes, particularly those concerning gay marriage, are especially convincing when the present results are considered in the context of previous research [2], [4], [9]. For example, Smith and colleagues [2] reported very similar findings: greater changes in skin conductance following disgust provocation predicted stronger conservative views on gay marriage and premarital sex.…”

“…The effects of disgust on sex-related attitudes, particularly those concerning gay marriage, are especially convincing when the present results are considered in the context of previous research [2], [4], [9]. For example, Smith and colleagues [2] reported very similar findings: greater changes in skin conductance following disgust provocation predicted stronger conservative views on gay marriage and premarital sex. However, the experimental approach of our study advances causal claims, particularly with regard to the effects of state disgust on views related to individual liberties pertaining to sexual orientation.…”

Morality and politics: Comparing alternate theories

“…Future work should examine the extent to which this holds true, both by determining which issues evoke absolutist and deontological beliefs for liberals, and by examining the extent to which these are actually applied in an absolutist and rule-based manner to judgments and behavior. A number of studies have also shown that conservatives are more likely to experience disgust, and that disgust can amplify the effects of morality on judgments (Inbar et al, 2012b;Schnall et al, 2008;Smith et al, 2011). In contrast, our results show that disgust items do not predict political orientation.…”

News, Politics, and Negativity

“…Most salient here is the work that finds a relationship between left-right political orientations and the magnitude of reactions to negative information. For instance, Oxley and colleagues (2008) find that subjects more sensitive to threatening images also tend to be more supportive of a range of conservative policies (including defense spending and capital punishment); more recently, Smith, Oxley, Hibbing, Alford, and Hibbing (2011) find that subjects demonstrating greater levels of "disgust sensitivity" are more likely to selfidentify as conservatives. The implication is that higher levels of fear or disgust can lead people to take on more conservative (i.e., cautious) political attitudes.…”