“and My soul shall abhor you” : Implicit processing of social disgust

Abstract

Disgust has a social component in which others are perceived as more disgusting than the self. Key characteristics of this social component were examined in six experiments. Experiment 1 established the social disgust Implicit Association Test (SD-IAT) applicability for assessing social disgust. Results revealed a congruency effect, in which participants implicitly associated other-race strangers with disgusting stimuli. Experiment 2 explored whether the SD-IAT effect is the result of familiarity. Unfamiliar in-group and out-group members were presented in the IAT. Results were identical to those of Experiment 1. Experiments 3 (using intergroup stimuli) and 4 (using interpersonal stimuli) investigated whether the SD-IAT congruency effect stems from disgust directed at others or from self-liking. Results showed a larger congruency effect for social disgust than for self-liking. Experiments 5 and 6 investigated whether SD stems from an association between the non-self and either disgust or negative valence. Findings showed a larger SD-IAT congruency effect for disgust. The combined results delineate the core aspects of SD and show that it is a heterogeneous phenomenon, based on relative social categories, in which the non-self is perceived as disgusting.