Undisguised disgust: a psychometric evaluation of a disgust propensity measure

Polák, Jakub; Landová, Eva; Frynta, Daniel

doi:10.1007/s12144-018-9925-4

Cited by 25 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…The distribution and median of SNAQ and DS-R in our sample was comparable to the sample of respondents used in previous studies (SNAQ n = 594; DS-R n = 1006; Polák et al, 2016, 2018).…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 82%

Snakes Represent Emotionally Salient Stimuli That May Evoke Both Fear and Disgust

et al. 2019

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Humans perceive snakes as threatening stimuli, resulting in fast emotional and behavioral responses. However, snake species differ in their true level of danger and are highly variable in appearance despite the uniform legless form. Different snakes may evoke fear or disgust in humans, or even both emotions simultaneously. We designed three-step-selection experiments to identify prototypical snake species evoking exclusively fear or disgust. First, two independent groups of respondents evaluated 45 images covering most of the natural variability of snakes and rated responses to either perceived fear ( n = 175) or disgust ( n = 167). Snakes rated as the most fear-evoking were from the family Viperidae ( Crotalinae , Viperinae , and Azemiopinae ), while the ones rated as the most disgusting were from the group of blind snakes called Typhlopoidea ( Xenotyphlopinae , Typhlopinae , and Anomalepidinae ). We then identified the specific traits contributing to the perception of fear (large body size, expressive scales with contrasting patterns, and bright coloration) and disgust (thin body, smooth texture, small eyes, and dull coloration). Second, to create stimuli evoking a discrete emotional response, we developed a picture set consisting of 40 snakes with exclusively fear-eliciting and 40 snakes with disgust-eliciting features. Another set of respondents ( n = 172) sorted the set, once according to perceived fear and the second time according to perceived disgust. The results showed that the fear-evoking and disgust-evoking snakes fit mainly into their respective groups. Third, we randomly selected 20 species (10 fear-evoking and 10 disgust-evoking) out of the previous set and had them professionally illustrated. A new set of subjects ( n = 104) sorted these snakes and confirmed that the illustrated snakes evoked the same discrete emotions as their photographic counterparts. These illustrations are included in the study and may be freely used as a standardized assessment tool when investigating the role of fear and disgust in human emotional response to snakes.

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“…The distribution and median of SNAQ and DS-R in our sample was comparable to the sample of respondents used in previous studies (SNAQ n = 594; DS-R n = 1006; Polák et al, 2016, 2018).…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 82%

Snakes Represent Emotionally Salient Stimuli That May Evoke Both Fear and Disgust

et al. 2019

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“…The online assessment battery consisted of images of phobic animals that the respondents rated according to fear and disgust, two psychometrics of the most common animal fears of snakes (Snake Questionnaire, SNAQ: Klorman, Weerts, Hastings, Melamed, & Lang, ; Czech translation: Polák, Sedláčková, Nácar, Landová, & Frynta, ) and spiders (Spider Questionnaire, SPQ: Klorman et al ., ), one assessment of general fear of various objects or situations (Fear Survey Schedule II, FSS: Geer, ), and a measure of disgust propensity (Disgust Scale – Revised, DS‐R: Haidt, McCauley, & Rozin, , modified by Olatunji et al ., and van Overveld et al ., ; Czech translation: Polák, Landová, & Frynta, ). The FSS and SPQ not available in Czech were first translated by two independent native bilingual speakers, and the items were checked through a back‐translation procedure.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the famous case of 'Little Albert' (Watson & Rayner, 1920), human fears and anxieties have fascinated our mind. Fright is appealing to the entertainment industry as the trend in horror movies production and generated profits is constantly increasing (Phillips, 2005). For example, 8,055 horror titles were released in 2017 with grosses worth billions of dollars (IMDb, 2018).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Scary and nasty beasts: Self‐reported fear and disgust of common phobic animals

Polák

Rádlová

Janovcová

et al. 2019

British J of Psychology

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Animal phobias are one of the most prevalent mental disorders. We analysed how fear and disgust, two emotions involved in their onset and maintenance, are elicited by common phobic animals. In an online survey, the subjects rated 25 animal images according to elicited fear and disgust. Additionally, they completed four psychometrics, the Fear Survey Schedule II (FSS), Disgust Scale – Revised (DS‐R), Snake Questionnaire (SNAQ), and Spider Questionnaire (SPQ). Based on a redundancy analysis, fear and disgust image ratings could be described by two axes, one reflecting a general negative perception of animals associated with higher FSS and DS‐R scores and the second one describing a specific aversion to snakes and spiders associated with higher SNAQ and SPQ scores. The animals can be separated into five distinct clusters: (1) non‐slimy invertebrates; (2) snakes; (3) mice, rats, and bats; (4) human endo‐ and exoparasites (intestinal helminths and louse); and (5) farm/pet animals. However, only snakes, spiders, and parasites evoke intense fear and disgust in the non‐clinical population. In conclusion, rating animal images according to fear and disgust can be an alternative and reliable method to standard scales. Moreover, tendencies to overgeneralize irrational fears onto other harmless species from the same category can be used for quick animal phobia detection.

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“…We recruited respondents with different levels of fear of snakes and general disgust propensity as measured by commonly used psychometric questionnaires–the Snake Questionnaire (SNAQ [ 63 ], in a Czech translation [ 64 ]) and the Disgust Scale-Revised (DS-R [ 65 , 66 ], in a Czech translation [ 67 ]). The respondents were selected so that the dataset would be balanced with comparable numbers of respondents with high and low scores from each of the above-mentioned questionnaires.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The respondents were selected so that the dataset would be balanced with comparable numbers of respondents with high and low scores from each of the above-mentioned questionnaires. The high-fear/disgust participants were defined as those scoring above the upper quartile on the SNAQ/DS-R scales (upper quartiles were computed for Czech population: SNAQ score ≥ 8 [ 64 ]; DS-R score ≥ 52 [ 67 ]). The respondents also completed the Emotion Reactivity Scale (ERS [ 68 ]) and provided information about their gender, age, and field of study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Venomous snakes elicit stronger fear than nonvenomous ones: Psychophysiological response to snake images

et al. 2020

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Snakes have been important ambush predators of both primates and human hunter-gatherers throughout their co-evolutionary history. Viperid snakes in particular are responsible for most fatal venomous snakebites worldwide and thus represent a strong selective pressure. They elicit intense fear in humans and are easily recognizable thanks to their distinctive morphotype. In this study, we measured skin resistance (SR) and heart rate (HR) in human subjects exposed to snake pictures eliciting either high fear (10 venomous viperid species) or disgust (10 nonvenomous fossorial species). Venomous snakes subjectively evaluated as frightening trigger a stronger physiological response (higher SR amplitude) than repulsive non-venomous snakes. However, stimuli presented in a block (more intense stimulation) do not trigger a stronger emotional response compared to sequentially presented stimuli (less intense stimulation). There are significant interindividual differences as subjects with high fear of snakes confronted with images of viperid snakes show stronger, longer-lasting, and more frequent changes in SR and higher HR compared to low-fear subjects. Thus, we show that humans demonstrate a remarkable ability to discriminate between dangerous viperids and harmless fossorial snakes, which is also reflected in distinct autonomous body responses.

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Undisguised disgust: a psychometric evaluation of a disgust propensity measure

Cited by 25 publications

References 43 publications

Snakes Represent Emotionally Salient Stimuli That May Evoke Both Fear and Disgust

Snakes Represent Emotionally Salient Stimuli That May Evoke Both Fear and Disgust

Scary and nasty beasts: Self‐reported fear and disgust of common phobic animals

Venomous snakes elicit stronger fear than nonvenomous ones: Psychophysiological response to snake images

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