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Mental contamination: the perpetrator effect.

S Rachman1, Adam S Radomsky, Corinna M Elliott

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada. rachman@interchange.ubc.ca

Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry
|September 6, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Imagining unacceptable acts can lead to feelings of mental contamination and dirtiness. Betrayal themes intensify these feelings, increasing urges to wash and negative emotions like shame and guilt.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Social Psychology
  • Cognitive Psychology

Background:

  • Mental events can trigger physical sensations.
  • Understanding the psychological roots of contamination sensitivity is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To experimentally investigate if imagining unacceptable, non-consensual acts induces contamination feelings.
  • To explore the role of betrayal themes in amplifying these effects.

Main Methods:

  • Four experiments were conducted with male student participants.
  • Participants imagined engaging in unacceptable, non-consensual acts.
  • The experimental procedure was incrementally enhanced with betrayal themes.

Main Results:

  • Imagining unacceptable acts led to increased negative emotions (shame, disgust, guilt).
  • Enhanced procedures, particularly those involving betrayal, intensified contamination feelings and washing urges.
  • Participants reported significant increases in perceived dirtiness after the scenarios.

Conclusions:

  • Imagining unacceptable, non-consensual acts can experimentally induce mental contamination.
  • This research provides an experimental illustration of mental contamination.
  • Negative emotions and contamination sensitivity are linked to imagined transgressions.