Disgust
Disgust is an
emotion, typically associated with things that are perceived as un
clean or
inedible. In
The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals,
Charles Darwin wrote that disgust refers to something revolting. Primarily in relationto the sense of taste, as actually perceived or vividly imagined; and secondarily to anything which causes a similar feeling. Through the sense of smell, touch, and even of eyesight. Disgust is one of the basic emotions of
Robert Plutchik's theory of emotions.
Disgust may be further subdivided into physical disgust, associated with physical or metaphorical
uncleanness, and
moral disgust, a similar feeling related to courses of action. Antonyms to disgust are
sympathy and also
liking.
Disgust is thought to have its origins in (and in some cases to be identical to)
instinctive reactions that evolved as part of natural selection for behavior which tended to prevent food poisoning, or exposure to danger or infection. Disgust is frequently associated with waste products such as
feces or
urine, and with
decomposing flesh, and
insects associated with it.
As in other human instinctual drives, disgust has an instinctual and a
socially constructed aspect. Religious concepts of
purity and pollution underlie various systems of
taboo food and drink, such as the
Jewish rules of
kashrut and the
Islamic distinction between
halal and
haram foods.
Mary Douglas's 1966 book
Purity and Danger attempted to explain these rules as involving, not health or ecological reasons as some had hypothesized before, but rather as attempts to maintain symbolic boundaries: the forbidden and unkosher animals were not eaten because their place in the natural order was felt to be ambiguous, "neither fish nor fowl". Believers in food taboos feel that they may be contaminated by exposure to forbidden foods, regardless of their consumption by others or standards of preparation, and can manifest all of the physical and emotional symptoms of disgust at their presence.
Socially constructed forms of the psychology of purity and pollution are also implicated in
racism and
sexism. Traditional
taboos believe that sacred
shrines or
temples would be polluted by the presence of
women or foreigners, or that
menstruating women defiled various processes such as the brewing of beer or the smithing of iron. A mere belief in
racial superiority is in itself logically inadequate to justify cultural practices such as
segregated drinking fountains in the
American South, or separate benches for Aryans and Jews in
Nazi Germany. Only a belief in contagion in addition to inferiority — the idea that the superior race would be polluted by mere physical contact with the inferior race — explains the observed phenomena. Similar beliefs have recently been constructed in some societies about
tobacco smoking.
Jonathan Haidt is a researcher whose work involves exploring the relationship between disgust and various traditional concepts of
morality. His theory of
social intuitionism seeks to explain the apparently pre-rational and visceral reactions to violations of the moral order.
Martha Nussbaum, a leading
American philosopher, wrote a book published in 2004 entitled
Hiding From Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law which examines the relationship of disgust and
shame to a society's laws.
A recent study found that
women and
children were more sensitive to disgust than men. Researchers attempted to explain this finding in
evolutionary terms. While some find wisdom in adhering to one's feelings of disgust, some scientists have asserted that "reactions of disgust are often built upon prejudices that should be challenged and rebutted."
*
foodborne illness*
taboo*
phobia*
nausea*
Nancy Sherman, a researcher investigating disgust*
Jon Haidt's page about the Disgust Scale*
Moral Judgment and the Social Intuitionist Model, publications by Jonathan Haidt on disgust and its relationship with moral ideas
*
Hiding from Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law*
Shame and Group Psychotherapy*
"Is repugnance wise? Visceral responses to biotechnology" Nature Biotechnology*
Purity and Pollution by Jonathan Kirkpatrick (RTF)
