Contamination fear and effects of disgust on distress in a public restroom

The present study examined the effect of a disgust mood induction on self-reported distress during exposure to 5 stimuli with increasing potential for contagion in a public restroom among contamination fearful individuals. Participants were 36 adults identified as high in contamination fear (HCF) and 47 adults identified as low in contamination fear (LCF) who were randomly assigned to either a disgust or neutral emotion induction condition. Consistent with predictions, HCF participants exhibited significantly more distress than LCF participants during exposure to the sources of contagion in the restroom. However, this main effect was moderated by type of mood induction and task difficulty. Specifically, significant differences in distress between HCF and LCF participants emerged only for stimuli with low potential for contagion (i.e., touching the inside of the bathroom sink) in the disgust condition, whereas such group differences in distress emerged only for stimuli with a relatively high potential for contagion (i.e., touching the inside of the bathroom toilet) in the neutral condition. The implications of these findings for better understanding the functional role of disgust in contamination fear are discussed.