INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES IN SENSITIVITY TO DISGUST - A SCALE SAMPLING 7DOMAINS OF DISGUST ELICITORS

We describe the development of a reliable measure of individual differ ences in disgust sensitivity. The 32-item Disgust Scale includes 2 tru e-false and 2 disgust-rating items for each of 7 domains of disgust el icitors (food, animals, body products, sex, body envelope violations, death, and hygiene) and for a domain of magical thinking (via similari ty and contagion) that cuts across the 7 domains of elicitors. Correla tions with other scales provide initial evidence of convergent and dis criminant validity: the Disgust Scale correlates moderately with Sensa tion Seeking (r = -0.46) and with Fear of Death (r = 0.39), correlates weakly with Neuroticism (r = 0.23) and Psychoticism (r = -0.25), and correlates negligibly with Self-Monitoring and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Extraversion and Lie scales. Females score higher than males on the Disgust Scale. We suggest that the 7 domains of disgust e licitors all have in common that they remind us of our animality and, especially, of our mortality. Thus we see disgust as a defensive emoti on that maintains and emphasizes the line between human and animal.