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Physiological and self-reported disgust reactions to obesity
Lenny R Vartanian1, Tara Trewartha1, Joanne R Beames1
1a School of Psychology , UNSW Sydney , Sydney , NSW , Australia.
Cognition & Emotion
|May 12, 2017
Summary
Disgust
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Emotions Research
Background:
- Prejudice towards individuals with obesity is linked to disgust.
- Previous research relied heavily on self-reported emotions.
- The physiological underpinnings of this disgust response are not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate physiological markers of disgust (levator labii activity) in response to images of obese individuals.
- To compare physiological disgust responses with self-reported disgust.
- To determine if body size directly elicits a physiological disgust reaction.
Main Methods:
- Four studies were conducted using facial electromyography (fEMG) to record levator labii muscle activity.
- Participants viewed images of individuals with varying body sizes.
- Self-reported disgust levels were collected alongside physiological data.
Main Results:
- All studies confirmed self-reported disgust towards images of obese individuals.
- Study 1 showed increased levator labii activity in response to obese individuals compared to neutral images.
- Studies 2-4 did not find a significant effect of body size on levator labii activity.
Conclusions:
- Self-reported disgust towards obesity is consistently observed.
- Physiological disgust responses to obesity may be less pronounced or absent, suggesting a cognitive rather than purely physiological basis.
- Disgust's role in obesity prejudice might operate more at a cognitive-conceptual level than a direct physiological one.
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