Background and objectives

Disgust has been associated with mental contamination (MC), although the evidence has hitherto been nonexperimental. Furthermore, strategies that can target both disgust and MC have not been well explored. We investigated the role of disgust in MC by inducing disgust via olfaction within the “dirty kiss” paradigm and conversely, to see if pairing pleasant olfactory stimulus during re-exposure, based on counterconditioning, can reduce MC. We also examined whether disgust constructs (propensity and sensitivity) and trait MC are associated with state MC arising from the “dirty kiss”.

Methods

MC was first evoked using the “dirty kiss” paradigm, in which participants (N = 90) visualized receiving a non-consensual kiss from a physically dirty man (time 1). After a break, participants repeated the “dirty kiss” task in a room that was scented to smell either disgusting, pleasant or neutral (time 2). Participants completed measures of disgust and trait MC after the experiment.

Results

Participants in the disgust condition reported increased feelings of dirtiness at time 2. Disgust propensity predicted feelings of dirtiness at time 1. Disgust sensitivity and trait MC were not associated with state MC indices.

Limitations

The use of a non-clinical female sample, extraneous factors during the break and contextual factors arising from room change at time 2 are some potential limitations.

Conclusions

Induced disgust within a MC paradigm resulted in increased feelings of dirtiness, suggestive of disgust-based emotional reasoning. Pairing pleasant olfactory stimulus was not effective at attenuating MC or disgust.

中文翻译：

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调节精神污染中的厌恶：厌恶作用的实验证据。

背景和目标

厌恶与精神污染（MC）有关，尽管迄今为止的证据还不是实验性的。此外，还没有很好地探索可以同时针对厌恶和 MC 的策略。我们通过在“脏吻”范式中通过嗅觉引起厌恶来研究厌恶在 MC 中的作用，相反，在再暴露期间配对令人愉快的嗅觉刺激，基于反调节，是否可以降低 MC。我们还检查了厌恶结构（倾向和敏感性）和特征 MC 是否与“脏吻”引起的状态 MC 相关。

方法

MC 最初是使用“脏吻”范式引起的，其中参与者 ( N  = 90) 想象从身体上肮脏的男人那里接受未经同意的吻（时间 1）。休息后，参与者在一个房间里重复“脏吻”任务，房间里散发出令人厌恶、愉快或中性的气味（时间 2）。参与者在实验后完成了厌恶和特质 MC 的测量。

结果

厌恶状态的参与者报告说，在时间 2 的肮脏感增加。厌恶倾向预测了时间 1 的肮脏感觉。厌恶敏感性和特质 MC 与状态 MC 指数无关。

限制

非临床女性样本的使用、休息期间的外来因素和时间 2 房间变化引起的背景因素是一些潜在的限制。

结论

在 MC 范式中引起的厌恶导致肮脏的感觉增加，暗示基于厌恶的情绪推理。配对令人愉快的嗅觉刺激并不能有效减轻 MC 或厌恶。