VARIETIES OF DISGUST FACES AND THE STRUCTURE OF DISGUST

In 3 facial expression identification studies, college students matche d a variety of disgust faces to verbally described eliciting situation s. The faces depicted specific muscle action movements in accordance w ith P. Ekman and W. V. Friesen's (1978) Facial Action Coding System. T he nose wrinkle is associated with either irritating or offensive smel ls and, to some extent, bad tastes. Gape and tongue extrusion are asso ciated primarily with what we call core or food-offense disgust and al so oral irritation. The broader range of disgust elicitors, including stimuli that remind humans of their animal origins (e.g., body boundar y violations, inappropriate sex, poor hygiene, and death), a variety o f aversive interpersonal contacts, and certain moral offenses are asso ciated primarily with the raised upper lip. The results support a theo ry of disgust that posits its origin as a response to bad tastes and m aps its evolution onto a moral emotion.