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Disgust acquisition in Pavlovian conditioning: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Anna M Schippers1, Tim Klucken1, Matthias F J Sperl1
1Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany.
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
|December 1, 2025
Summary
Pavlovian conditioning robustly acquires disgust, influencing mental health disorders. Psychophysiological and self-report measures confirm this, though factors affecting acquisition depth need further study.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Disgust acquisition via Pavlovian conditioning is linked to mental disorders like OCD and eating disorders.
- Understanding disgust conditioning is vital for mental health research and treatment development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review and meta-analyze research on disgust conditioning.
- To examine psychophysiological and self-report measures of disgust, valence, and expectancy.
- To analyze the influence of unconditioned stimulus (UCS) characteristics on disgust acquisition.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of 44 studies (N=3832).
- Inclusion of studies using psychophysiological (autonomic, EMG, EEG, fMRI) and self-report measures.
- Analysis of UCS modality (e.g., olfactory, visual) and number of stimuli.
Main Results:
- Medium effect sizes for self-reported disgust and valence; very large for expectancy.
- Small effect sizes for psychophysiological measures.
- Larger psychophysiological effects for (audio-)visual vs. olfactory UCS and with more disgust-related UCS.
- No significant moderator effect of UCS modality or number on self-report indices.
Conclusions:
- Robust evidence supports disgust acquisition through Pavlovian conditioning across self-report and psychophysiological data.
- Further research is needed to understand factors influencing acquisition depth and speed.
- More studies using psychophysiological and neural measures in diverse samples are required to elucidate neurobiological mechanisms.
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