Feeling disgust helps us stay healthy, study says

Feeling disgust(disˈgəst) helps us stay healthy, study says

By Susan Scutti

Disgust is our guardian(ˈgärdēən): Though most of us would rather not feel this unpleasant(ˌənˈplezənt) emotion(iˈmōSHən), it helps us avoid disease(diˈzēz) and infection(inˈfekSHən), new research suggests(sə(g)ˈjest).

Long before microscopes(ˈmīkrəˌskōp) revealed(riˈvēl) unseen germs(jərm) and parasites(ˈparəˌsīt), humans developed(diˈveləpt) a system of disgust, with six basic(ˈbāsik) triggers(ˈtrigər) warning us to turn away from harmful pathogens(-ˌjen,ˈpaTHəjən), according to a study published Sunday in the journal(ˈjərnl) Philosophical(ˌfiləˈsäfikəl) Transactions(-ˈzak-,tranˈsakSHən) of the Royal(ˈroiəl) Society.

“Disgust evolved(iˈvälv) to protect us from disease in our ancient(ˈānCHənt) past. The disgust response today may, or may not, be a good guide(gīd) to what might make us sick(sik) today,” said Val Curtis, lead author of the study and a professor(prəˈfesər) and director of the Environmental Health Group of the London School of Hygiene(ˈhīˌjēn) & Tropical(ˈträpəkəl) Medicine(ˈmedisən).

“It is unlikely to be a coincidence(-ˌdens,kōˈinsədəns) that many of the stimuli that elicit(iˈlisit) the emotion of disgust in humans are also implicated(ˈimpliˌkāt) in the transmission(transˈmiSHən,tranz-) of infectious(inˈfekSHəs) disease,” Curtis and her co-author, Mícheál de Barra, a lecturer(ˈlekCHərər) at Brunel University London, wrote.

To better understand disgust, Curtis and de Barra recruited(riˈkro͞ot) more than 2,500 participants(pärˈtisəpənt) through advertisements(ədˈvərtiz-,ˈadvərˌtīzmənt) on social media and psychology(sīˈkäləjē) websites for an online survey.

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The participants read brief descriptions of 75 potentially(pəˈtenCHəl) revolting(riˈvōltiNG) scenarios(-ˈnär-,səˈne(ə)rēˌō) they might encounter(enˈkoun(t)ər) in a day. Among the word snapshots(ˈsnapˌSHät) to be rated(rāt) were these:

Your friend shows you a big, oozing(o͞oz) lesion(ˈlēZHən) on his foot.

Feeling something sticky(ˈstikē) on a door handle.

You pour(pôr) lumpy(ˈləmpē) stale(stāl) milk on your cereal(ˈsi(ə)rēəl).

A hairless(ˈhe(ə)rlis) old cat rubs(rəb) up against your leg.

Watching a woman pick her nose(nōz)

On television(ˈteləˌviZHən) you see someone eat a raw(rô) fish head.

Seeing a cockroach(ˈkäkˌrōCH) run across your path.

Reading the scenarios, participants rated the strength(streNG(k)TH,strenTH) of their disgust on a scale(skāl) from “no disgust” to “extreme(ikˈstrēm) disgust.”

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https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/04/health/disgust-health-disease-study/index.html?utm_source=nextdraft&utm_medium=email