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Repulsed by violence: disgust sensitivity buffers trait, behavioral, and daily aggression
Richard S Pond1, C Nathan Dewall, Nathaniel M Lambert
1Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, USA. ricky.pond@gmail.com
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|June 29, 2011
Summary
Increased disgust sensitivity correlates with reduced aggression. This research shows that understanding an emotion's motivational drive, like disgust's avoidance tendency, is key to predicting aggression levels.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Emotion Research
Background:
- Aggression models often link negative emotions to aggressive behavior.
- The specific motivational direction of emotions is frequently overlooked.
- Disgust, an emotion linked to avoidance, has not been extensively studied in relation to aggression.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if sensitivity to disgust predicts lower levels of aggression.
- To explore the relationship between disgust sensitivity and various forms of aggressive behavior.
- To determine if different domains of disgust (moral, sexual, pathogen) influence daily aggression.
Main Methods:
- Five studies were conducted with varying sample sizes (N = 51 to 268).
- Methods included trait self-report measures, reaction-time tasks, and longitudinal and daily diary designs.
- Disgust sensitivity was assessed, alongside measures of physical aggression, verbal aggression, intimate partner violence, and daily aggressive incidents.
Main Results:
- Disgust sensitivity consistently predicted lower levels of trait aggression (physical and verbal).
- Higher disgust sensitivity was associated with less aggressive behavior in experimental tasks and reduced inclinations towards intimate partner violence.
- All domains of disgust (moral, sexual, pathogen) demonstrated a buffering effect on daily aggression.
Conclusions:
- Disgust sensitivity is a significant predictor of reduced aggression.
- Considering the motivational direction of emotions, such as disgust's avoidance function, is crucial for understanding aggression.
- These findings suggest that disgust sensitivity may play a protective role against aggressive behaviors across different contexts.
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