Giving In to Arousal or Staying Stuck in Disgust? Disgust-Based Mechanisms in Sex and Sexual Dysfunction

Abstract

Sex and disgust seem like strange bedfellows. The premise of this review is that disgust-based mechanisms nevertheless hold great promise for improving our understanding of sexual behavior, including dysfunctions. Disgust is a defensive emotion that protects the organism from contamination. Accordingly, disgust is focused on the border of the self, with the mouth and vagina being the body parts that show strongest disgust sensitivity. Given the central role of these organs in sexual behavior, together with the fact that bodily products are among the strongest disgust elicitors, the critical question seems not whether disgust may interfere with sex but rather how people succeed in having pleasurable sex at all. We argue that sexual arousal plays a critical role in counteracting disgust-induced avoidance via lowering the threshold for engaging in "disgusting sex." Following this, all mechanisms that interfere with the generation of sexual arousal or enhance the disgusting properties of sexual stimuli may hamper the functional transition from a sex-avoidance into an approach disposition. Since prolonged contact is the most powerful means to reduce disgust, disgust-based mechanisms that counteract sexual approach may give rise to a self-perpetuating cycle in which enhanced sexual disgust becomes a chronic feature.

Disgust and Sexual Arousal in Young Adult Men and Women

“…There is considerable evidence that cognitive processes linked to fear and pain may be involved in the development of sexual problems (Barlow, 1986;Janssen & Everaerd, 1993;Payne, Binik, Amsel, & Khalifé, 2005). Recently, it has been argued that, next to fear, disgust may also be involved in the development of sexual dysfunctions (Borg, de Jong, & Weijmar-Schultz, 2010;de Jong, van Overveld, & Borg, 2013;de Jong, van Overveld, Weijmar Schultz, Peters, & Buwalda, 2009). …”

Correlational and experimental analyses of the relation between disgust and sexual arousal

“…Similar to Tybur and colleagues (2009), de Jong and colleagues (2013) propose an evolutionary benefit to the mutual inhibition of disgust and sexual arousal. The majority of evidence cited by de Jong and colleagues in support of an evolutionary hypothesis, however, applies only to women.…”

“…As a result, sex may require simultaneous interactions with disgust- and arousal-eliciting stimuli. de Jong and colleagues (2013) propose two potential response cycles: dysfunctional and functional. In both, disgust and sexual arousal are proposed to be mutually inhibitory states.…”

“…This study aimed to improve on previous research regarding disgust and sex in two important ways. First, theoretical works have suggested disgust inhibits sexual arousal and increases avoidance of sexual stimuli (de Jong et al, 2010; de Jong et al, 2013), but the inhibiting role of disgust on sex has yet to be demonstrated empirically. The present study therefore experimentally manipulated participants’ disgust, with the hypothesis that disgust induction would inhibit sexual arousal to and increase avoidance of subsequent sexual stimuli.…”

“…Yet, theoretical work has only recently begun to explore the specific relations between disgust and sexual arousal. Empirical work to date points to a strong and negative relation between the two variables, with important implications for understanding sexual functioning difficulties (for a review, see de Jong, van Overveld, & Borg, 2013). …”