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Parents Develop Long-Term Disgust Habituation, but Only After Beginning to Wean Their Children
Yifan Huang1, Ivo E Dalmaijer-Denning2, Joris A Dalmaijer-Denning2
1School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
|January 6, 2026
Summary
Parenthood significantly reduces disgust sensitivity to bodily effluvia, especially after a child is weaned. This long-term habituation suggests an adaptive response to parental care, overcoming initial disgust triggers over time.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Human Behavior
Background:
- Disgust is a crucial emotion for avoiding pathogens and illness.
- Short-term habituation to disgust is possible, but long-term habituation remains unclear.
- Parenthood presents a unique, prolonged exposure to bodily effluvia.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate long-term habituation to disgust through the quasi-experiment of parenthood.
- To determine if parental exposure to bodily effluvia reduces disgust sensitivity and avoidance behaviors.
- To explore potential adaptive functions of disgust modulation in parental care.
Main Methods:
- Compared disgust sensitivity and avoidance in parents (N=99) and controls (N=50).
- Utilized parent-specific disgust questionnaires and behavioral tasks with child-related stimuli (soiled diapers).
- Assessed responses to pre-weaning and post-weaning fecal stimuli.
Main Results:
- Parents of weaned children showed significantly reduced avoidance of bodily effluvia compared to controls.
- Parents of pre-weaning children exhibited similar disgust avoidance to the control group.
- Habituation to diaper contents generalized to other forms of bodily effluvia in parents.
Conclusions:
- Long-term habituation to disgust is achievable through prolonged exposure, as demonstrated by parents of weaned children.
- Reduced disgust sensitivity in parents may be an adaptive mechanism facilitating infant care.
- An initial heightened disgust response in early parenthood might protect vulnerable infants.
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