Pathogen disgust, but not moral disgust, changes across the menstrual cycle

Miłkowska, Karolina; Galbarczyk, Andrzej; Klimek, Magdalena; Zabłocka‐Słowińska, Katarzyna; Jasieńska, Grażyna

doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2021.03.002

Cited by 13 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Not only were progesterone levels higher during the luteal phase, but estradiol was also higher, further speculating that estradiol and progesterone may play opposite roles in pathogen disgust processing Żelaźniewicz, et al 47 . For moral stimuli, after excluding the effect of intensity, there was still no detectable effect of the menstrual cycle, which is also in line with previous ndings using self-reports 22,48 .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…However, the ndings have yielded mixed results. For progesterone, according to the Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis (CPH), higher progesterone in the luteal phase will increase disgust feelings and activates the behavioral immune system 21,22 . In contrast, other studies did not nd pathogen disgust or moral disgust is upregulated in the luteal phase or tracks changes in women's hormone levels 23,24 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Opposite Effects of Estradiol and Progesterone on Woman’s Disgust Processing

Mei

Zhang

Zheng-ming

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Ovarian hormones play a critical role in emotion processing, which might be the major reason for the high rates of major depressive disorders in women. However, the exact roles of estradiol and progesterone on the basic emotions remain unclear. To this end, we performed a behavioral and an rs-fMRI study. Experiment 1 examines the specific influence of these two ovarian hormones on pathogen disgust and moral disgust processing across the menstrual cycle using the single category implicit association test (SC-IAT) and explicit measures of disgust intensity task. In experiment 2, we used the amygdala, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex(dACC), and insula as a seed to explore the menstrual cycle effects on intrinsic connectivity networks related to emotion processing. The behavioral results showed that women during the luteal phase had higher D scores and shorter response times (RTs) to disgust stimuli (both for pathogen disgust and moral disgust stimuli) compared to the menses phase and follicular phase. Instead, women during the follicular phase had fewer disgust feelings and longer response time (RTs) to pathogen stimuli compared to the menses phase and luteal phase, but this effect was moderated by the intensity of the stimuli. Furthermore, there was no difference in subject moral disgust feelings between the three cycle phases. The rs-fMRI studies showed that luteal phase women have higher functional connectivity in the salience network compared to the follicular phase. And compared to the menstrual phase, follicular phase women have lower functional connectivity in the anterior insula and amygdala. In summary, the more negative attitude to disgust stimuli and the enhanced functional connectivity of the salience network shown during the luteal phase may be associated with high progesterone levels, whereas the lower disgust feelings and reduced functional connectivity of the amygdala shown during the follicular phase may be associated with high estradiol levels.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Opposite Effects of Estradiol and Progesterone on Woman’s Disgust Processing

Mei

Zhang

Zheng-ming

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Using this method, Stern and Shiramizu (2022) found no evidence that pathogen disgust tracked changes in progesterone and also found no evidence for increased pathogen disgust during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. By contrast with the null results reported by Jones et al (2018) and Stern and Shiramizu (2022), Miłkowska et al (2021) reported that pathogen disgust (assessed using the pathogen disgust subscale of the Three Domain Disgust Scale, the contamination subscale of the Revised Padua Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory, and disgust ratings of images depicting pathogen cues) increased significantly during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle in a sample of 93 women. Note that Miłkowska et al's (2021) study did not measure progesterone levels.…”

Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 73%

Is Pathogen Disgust Increased on Days of the Menstrual Cycle when Progesterone is High? Evidence from a Between-Subjects Study Using Estimated Progesterone Levels

Rafiee

Jones

Shiramizu

2022

Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology

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Objective The Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis proposes that women will show increased pathogen disgust at points in the menstrual cycle when progesterone is high, compensating for the immunosuppressive effects of progesterone. However, evidence for the Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis from studies that used longitudinal designs to investigate whether pathogen disgust tracks changes in progesterone is mixed. It was recently proposed that longitudinal designs may be poorly suited to testing the Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis because carry-over effects when women are tested repeatedly in within-subject designs might obscure the effects of progesterone and pathogen disgust. Consequently, we used a between-subjects design to test for a positive relationship between scores on the pathogen disgust subscale of the Three Domain Disgust Scale and progesterone levels imputed from menstrual cycle data using actuarial tables. Methods We employed a between-subject design on N = 1346 women using the Three Domains of Disgust Scale (TDDS). Results We found no evidence for a positive effect of progesterone on pathogen disgust, suggesting that null results for the hypothesized relationship between progesterone and pathogen disgust are not limited to studies using designs that may be subject to carry-over effects caused by repeated testing. Conclusion Our results add to a growing body of research that does not support the Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis.

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“…Using this method, Stern and Shiramizu (2022) found no evidence that pathogen disgust tracked changes in progesterone and also found no evidence for increased pathogen disgust during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. By contrast with the null results reported by Jones et al (2018) and Stern and Shiramizu (2022), Miłkowska et al (2021) reported that pathogen disgust (assessed using the pathogen disgust subscale of the Three Domain Disgust Scale, the contamination subscale of the Revised Padua Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory, and disgust ratings of images depicting pathogen cues) increased significantly during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle in a sample of 93 women. Note that Milkowska et al's (2021) study did not measure progesterone levels.…”

Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 73%

Is pathogen disgust increased on days of the menstrual cycle when progesterone is high? Evidence from a between-subjects study using estimated progesterone levels

Rafiee¹,

Jones²,

Shiramizu³

2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis proposes that women will show increased pathogen disgust at points in the menstrual cycle when progesterone is high, compensating for the immunosuppressive effects of progesterone. However, evidence for the Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis from studies that used longitudinal designs to investigate whether pathogen disgust tracks changes in progesterone is mixed. It was recently proposed that longitudinal designs may be poorly suited to testing the Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis because carry- over effects when women are tested repeatedly in within-subject designs might obscure the effects of progesterone and pathogen disgust. Consequently, we used a between-subjects design to test for a positive relationship between scores on the pathogen disgust subscale of the Three Domain Disgust Scale and progesterone levels imputed from menstrual cycle data using actuarial tables. Analyses showed no evidence for a positive effect of progesterone on pathogen disgust, suggesting that null results for the hypothesised relationship between progesterone and pathogen disgust are not limited to studies using designs that may be subject to carry-over effects caused by repeated testing. Thus, our results add to a growing body of research that does not support the Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis.

show abstract

Pathogen disgust, but not moral disgust, changes across the menstrual cycle

Cited by 13 publications

References 59 publications

The Opposite Effects of Estradiol and Progesterone on Woman’s Disgust Processing

The Opposite Effects of Estradiol and Progesterone on Woman’s Disgust Processing

Is Pathogen Disgust Increased on Days of the Menstrual Cycle when Progesterone is High? Evidence from a Between-Subjects Study Using Estimated Progesterone Levels

Is pathogen disgust increased on days of the menstrual cycle when progesterone is high? Evidence from a between-subjects study using estimated progesterone levels

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