From Bugs to Sickness: Disgust Evaluation of Ancestral, Modern, and Pandemic Threats

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00023752%3A_____%2F25%3A43921663" target="_blank" >RIV/00023752:_____/25:43921663 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/00216208:11310/25:10507980

Result on the web

<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40806-025-00442-6" target="_blank" >https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40806-025-00442-6</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40806-025-00442-6" target="_blank" >10.1007/s40806-025-00442-6</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

From Bugs to Sickness: Disgust Evaluation of Ancestral, Modern, and Pandemic Threats

Original language description

Disgust is a fundamental emotion that evolved to protect organisms from pathogens and toxins, shaping behaviours critical for survival. This study explores how ancestral, modern, and pandemic-related threat represented by visual stimuli elicit disgust. Specifically, our goal was to validate the categorisation of disgusting stimuli, evaluate the intensity of emotional responses, and determine the contribution of individual differences. A sample of 262 participants from diverse educational and professional backgrounds ranked 60 visual stimuli, including ancestral (spoiled food, bugs), modern (toxic substances, radioactivity), and pandemic-related (sneezing, masks, and hospitals) categories, on perceived disgust (pictures of leaves were used as controls). They also completed assessments of pathogen, core, and moral disgust, along with pandemic-related behaviours and stress. Results revealed distinct clusters of disgust stimuli, with spoiled food evoking the strongest repulsion, while modern threats, such as pollution and radioactivity, elicited weaker disgust. Pandemic-related stimuli formed a unique, but heterogeneous category, with visible infection cues (e.g. sneezing) triggering stronger disgust than abstract cues like masks or hospital environments. The findings highlight the evolutionary roots of disgust and its adaptation to modern contexts. They underscore the need to consider cultural, individual, and situational factors in public health strategies and interventions targeting hygiene and disease prevention behaviours.

Czech name

—

Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

50101 - Psychology (including human - machine relations)

Project

<a href="/en/project/GA22-13381S" target="_blank" >GA22-13381S: Human responses to ancestral and modern threats and their comparison to airborne pathogens</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Evolutionary Psychological Science

ISSN

2198-9885

e-ISSN

2198-9885

Volume of the periodical

11

Issue of the periodical within the volume

3

Country of publishing house

DE - GERMANY

Number of pages

18

Pages from-to

273-290

UT code for WoS article

001562510600001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-105015586884