Pharyngeal Detection of Staphylococcus aureus as a Possible Factor Related to Disgust Sensitivity in Humans

Abstract

Disgust triggers behavioral avoidance of pathogen-carrying and fitness-reducing agents. However, because of the cost involved, disgust sensitivity should be flexible, varying as a function of an individual’s immunity. Asymptomatic colonization with Staphylococcus aureus often results from weakened immunity and is a potential source of subsequent infections. In this study, we tested if pharyngeal colonization with S. aureus, evaluated based on a single swab collection, is related to an individual’s disgust sensitivity, measured with the Three Domain Disgust Scale. Levels of immunomodulating hormones (cortisol and testosterone), general health, and body adiposity were controlled. Women (N = 95), compared to men (N = 137), displayed higher sexual disgust sensitivity, but the difference between individuals with S. aureus and without S. aureus was significant only in men, providing support for prophylactic hypothesis, explaining inter-individual differences in disgust sensitivity. Men (but not women) burdened with asymptomatic S. aureus presence in pharynx exhibit higher pathogen disgust (p = 0.04) compared to individuals in which S. aureus was not detected. The positive relationship between the presence of the pathogen and sexual disgust was close to the statistical significance level (p = 0.06), and S. aureus colonization was not related with moral disgust domain.

“May I present you: my disgust!” – Declared disgust sensitivity in the presence of attractive models

“…Namely, out of fear of COVID-19 infection, people of extremely high pathogen disgust sensitivity might have not agreed on participating in a study that demanded visiting an unknown place nearby city centre. Thus, it is possible that our sample includes only people low-to-moderately high in pathogen disgust sensitivity (which would be in line with cross-study mean comparisons of our sample and another Polish sample in Żelaźniewicz et al, 2020Żelaźniewicz et al, , but see: Liuzza et al, 2017. Alternatively, the pandemic itself might have heightened disgust sensitivity in our participants (Stevenson et al, 2021).…”