The two sides of disgust: A lexical and thematic content analysis of narratives of personally experienced physical and moral disgust

Abstract

The present study examined narratives about situations in which individuals experience physical and/or moral disgust, and the similarities and differences between them. A thematic content analysis of participants' narratives of personal physically or morally disgusting experiences as well as a lexical analysis using the computer program ALCESTE revealed that physical disgust emerges in an instantaneous reflex-like way during situations in which the individual is directly exposed to physical disgust elicitors. Physically disgusting events are described from an actor's perspective and induce predominantly 'pure' disgust in the absence of other negative emotions. Furthermore, physical disgust, which strongly involves sensory modalities such as vision, odor, touch and taste, leads to more bodily reactions (e.g. nausea, tremor) and impels avoidance behavior. Morally disgusting events relate primarily to the observation of others as the victims of violence, betrayal and injustice (observer perspective), and involve judgments and reflections about the event, suggesting more in-depth cognitive elaboration. Morally disgusting events were found also to induce other negative emotions, such as anger and sadness. Our results suggest that these two types of disgust are sufficiently distinct to anticipate that they might differentially affect individuals' social and moral judgments. Keywords ALCESTE, content analysis, moral and social judgment, physical and moral disgust RésuméCette étude a examiné des récits de situations dans lesquelles les individus ressentent du dégoût physique et/ou moral et les similitudes et différences entre ces deux types de dégoût. Une analyse de contenu thématique des récits, ainsi qu'une analyse lexicale à l'aide du logiciel ALCESTE a révélé que le dégoût physique survient de manière instantanée dans des situations dans lesquelles l'individu est directement exposé aux inducteurs du dégoût physique. Les événements physiquement dégoûtants sont davantage relatés selon une perspective d'acteur et induisent principalement un dégoût 'pur' en l'absence d'autres émotions négatives. De plus, le dégoût physique, qui implique fortement des modalités sensorielles comme la vision, l'odorat, le toucher et le goût, conduit davantage à des manifestations corporelles (nausées, tremblements, etc.) et incite aux comportements d'évitement. En revanche, les événements moralement dégoutants portent principalement sur l'observation des autres comme victimes de violence, de trahison et d'injustice (perspective d'observateur) et impliquent des jugements et des réflexions sur la situation, suggérant une élaboration cognitive plus approfondie. Les événements moralement répugnants se sont aussi avérés induire d'autres émotions négatives, telles que la colère et la tristesse. Nos résultats suggèrent que ces deux types de dégoût sont suffisamment distincts pour qu'ils puissent affecter différemment les jugements sociaux et moraux des individus. Mots-clés ALCESTE, analyse de contenu, dégoût physique et moral, jugement moral et s...

The level of construal involved in the elicitation of core versus moral disgust.

“…Core disgust and moral disgust are also different in their relationships to other emotional responses. Specifically, moral disgust stimuli, but not core disgust stimuli, also tend to elicit anger and sadness (Abitan & Krauth-Gruber, 2015; Marzillier & Davey, 2004; Simpson et al, 2006), whereas core disgust has been found to correlate with fear (Olatunji, Tolin, Huppert, & Lohr, 2005).…”

“…The distinction between core disgust and moral disgust has led to an ongoing debate about whether the two types of disgust represent two distinct emotions (Abitan & Krauth-Gruber, 2015; S. Lee & Ellsworth, 2013;Luo et al, 2013;Marzillier & Davey, 2004;Moll et al, 2005;Nabi, 2002;Simpson, Carter, Anthony, & Overton, 2006;Yang, Li, Xiao, Zhang, & Tian, 2014;Yoder, Widen, & Russell, 2016) or two manifestations of a single emotion (Chapman & Anderson, 2013;Chapman, Kim, Susskind, & Anderson, 2009;Danovitch & Bloom, 2009;Jones & Fitness, 2008;Rozin et al, 2008). Two central features that core disgust and moral disgust share are their similar facial motor activity and similar behavior response.…”

“…According to Simpson et al, the elicitation of core disgust is automatic, whereas the elicitation of moral disgust relies on more schematic and elaborated cognitive processes. Another study that analyzed the content of participants' essays, wherein they described either an experience of core disgust or moral disgust, found that narratives of core disgust included more references to the sensory system and were more likely to be described from an actor's perspective, whereas narratives of moral disgust included more explanations of the situation and were more likely to be described from an observer's perspective (Abitan & Krauth-Gruber, 2015). Taken together, these studies demonstrate that core disgust and moral disgust involve distinct cognitive processes.…”

“…Whereas prior research has identified several differences in cognitive processes associated with core disgust and moral disgust (Abitan & Krauth-Gruber, 2015; Simpson et al, 2006), there has not been a systematic attempt to study the implication of these differences for emotion elicitation and regulation (for an exception, see Simpson et al, 2006). Research has mainly measured different appraisals involved in the elicitation of core and moral disgust (Abitan & Krauth-Gruber, 2015) but has not tested how manipulating such appraisals influences emotion reactivity.…”

“…Whereas prior research has identified several differences in cognitive processes associated with core disgust and moral disgust (Abitan & Krauth-Gruber, 2015; Simpson et al, 2006), there has not been a systematic attempt to study the implication of these differences for emotion elicitation and regulation (for an exception, see Simpson et al, 2006). Research has mainly measured different appraisals involved in the elicitation of core and moral disgust (Abitan & Krauth-Gruber, 2015) but has not tested how manipulating such appraisals influences emotion reactivity. Understanding the cognitive processes that are involved in the experience of different types of disgust has potential implications for important outcomes, like moral judgment (Eskine et al, 2011; Horberg, Oveis, Keltner, & Cohen, 2009; Schnall et al, 2008; Wisneski & Skitka, 2017), attitudes toward social issues such as LGBT (e.g., Inbar, Pizarro, Knobe, & Bloom, 2009) and genetically modified food (e.g., Scott, Inbar, & Rozin, 2016), and psychopathologies (e.g., Olatunji, Cisler, McKay, & Phillips, 2010).…”