Sexual Ageism or Sexual Stigma? Sexual Double Standards and Disgust Sensitivity in Judgments of Sexual and Romantic Behavior

Recent research has established a link between disgust sensitivity and stigmatizing reactions to various groups, including obese individuals. However, previous research has overlooked disgust's multiple evolved functions. Here, we investigated whether the link between disgust sensitivity and obesity stigma is specific to pathogen disgust, or whether sexual disgust and moral disgust--two separate functional domains--also relate to negative attitudes toward obese individuals. Additionally, we investigated whether sex differences exist in the manner disgust sensitivity predicts obesity stigma, whether the sexes differ across the subtypes of obesity bias independent of disgust sensitivity, and last, the association between participants' BMI and different subtypes of obesity stigma. In study 1 (N = 92), we established that obesity elicits pathogen, sexual, and moral disgust. In study 2, we investigated the relationship between these types of disgust sensitivity and obesity stigma. Participants (N = 387) reported their level of disgust toward various pathogen, sexual, and moral acts and their attitudes toward obese individuals. For women, but not men, increased pathogen disgust sensitivity predicted more negative attitudes toward obese individuals. Men reported more negative general attitudes toward obese individuals whereas women reported greater fear of becoming obese. The sexes also differed in how their own BMI related to the subtypes of obesity stigma. These findings indicate that pathogen disgust sensitivity plays a role in obesity stigma, specifically for women. Defining the scope of disgust's activation in response to obesity and its relationship with other variables can help identify possible mechanisms for understanding and ultimately alleviating prejudice and discrimination.

Previous studies have found that “disgust-sensitive” individuals have negative attitudes toward gay and lesbian people, but the underlying mechanisms for such attitudes remain unclear. Based on moral foundations theory, the current paper assumes that the relationship between disgust sensitivity and attitudes toward homosexuality are mediated by moral foundations. In order to test this assumption, the current authors examined the questionnaire answers from a total of 452 Chinese undergraduates who participated in this study. The results showed that disgust sensitivity was positively correlated with negative attitudes toward homosexuality, and positively correlated with moral concerns in five domains (care, fairness, loyalty, authority, and sanctity). Authority and sanctity were both associated with attitudes toward homosexuality, while only sanctity mediated the relationship between disgust sensitivity and attitudes toward homosexuality. Overall, the results suggest that considering moral foundations (especially sanctity) may lend more insight to the associations between disgust sensitivity and negative attitudes toward gay and lesbian people.

IntroductionOftentimes the older adults are assumed to be asexual as few studies explore into the sexuality of this age group worldwide and even in Nigeria. It is an important aspect of quality of life which is often neglected by people in this age group, attending physicians and the society as a whole. The study was aimed at determining the perception of older adults about sexuality, identify the factors that could militate against sexuality and fill any void in information in this regard.MethodsDescriptive study conducted in one hundred older adults. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to consenting participants between 1st of September 2013 and 31st of March 2014.ResultsMean age of respondents was 66.42± 5.77 years. Seventy-eight percent of the male respondents considered engaging in sexual activity as safe compared to 45.8% of the female respondents. More of the women (33.3%) regarded sexuality in the older adults as a taboo when compared to the men (5.4%). However, the men were more favourably disposed to discussing sexual problems than the women with their spouses (42% vs 20%) and Physicians (23.2% vs 0.0%). Major factors responsible for sexual inactivity were participants’ medical ailments (65%), partners’ failing health (15%) as well as anxiety about sexual performance (25%) in the men and dyspareunia (25%) in women.ConclusionThere is an urgent need to correct the misconception about sexuality in this age group especially among the women and for the physicians to explore the sexual history of every patient.

Loneliness and social isolation are significant public health crises in older adults. The issues about companionship have many psychosocial and cultural dimensions, which is further compounded by the current COVID-19 pandemic. In modern-day India, there is a significant increase in the number of older adults left to live alone because of sociocultural changes in our society. Companionship in late life is known to promote the quality of life and decrease the mental health morbidity. There is an increasing role of pets as companions to the elderly. Novel technologies such as artificial intelligence in the form of robots are being explored to support the elderly. Sexuality is another complex issue related to older adults that is often ignored. The sexuality and sexual functioning in older adults largely depend on physiological, psychological, and sociocultural factors. The principles of ageism have influenced sexuality in older adults. Sociocultural issues and the aging-related pathophysiological changes can contribute to an increased risk for legal issues related to sexuality in this population. There is a need for more systematic research into the multifaceted concept of companionship and sexuality in the older adult population. This review article addresses these two distinct subjects separately.

Sexuality is a fundamental part of human existence and it encompasses thoughts, desires, behaviors, relationships, as well as neuropsychological and physiological components. However, sexuality in older adults is under-researched from the neuropsychological and psychophysiological perspectives and is often neglected by healthcare providers in the clinical practice. This article aims to explore the state of the art on the neuropsychology and psychophysiology of older adults’ sexuality, proposing future research directions and emphasizing its significance. By summarizing current knowledge on the sexuality of younger individuals, it was possible to lay the groundwork for formulating research questions about older adults’ sexuality. The implications proposed in this article will potentially impact both the scientific and also the clinical field. In fact, gaining insights on the neuropsychological and psychophysiological aspects of sexuality in healthy older adults can also shed light into those with neurocognitive disorders.

Objectives To investigate sexuality in older Thai adults during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the associated factors. Methods This cross-sectional survey was conducted on older adults visiting a primary care unit (PCU) in Thailand. A hundred and ninety older adults were enrolled by convenience sampling. Multiple logistic regression analysis with a backward stepwise algorithm was used to analyze factors associated with sexual desire and activity in older Thai adults. Results The median age of participants was 67.99 (60.01–88.57) years, and 63.2% were women. Overall, 37.4% of participants had sexual desires, and 54.2% were sexually active during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, more than half reported a decrease in sexual activity, fearing COVID-19 transmission as the most common reason. Men had more sexual desire and activity than women (adjusted OR [95% CI] = 13.92 [4.76, 40.73] and 6.63 [2.59, 16.94], respectively). Conclusions Older Thai adults in the PCU displayed decreased sexual desire and activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sexual health is a lifestyle aspect that required investigation and care during the pandemic. Clinical Implications Older Thai adults should be educated in that sexual activities can be broader than sexual intercourse, and sexual health should be cared for during an eventual new pandemic disease.

SummaryBackgroundIn an effort to identify factors associated with frailty transitions that trigger a significant difference in preventing and postponing the progression of frailty, questions regarding the role of cognitive leisure activities on various aspects of older adults’ health were raised. However, the relationship between cognitive leisure activities and frailty transitions has rarely been studied.MethodsA total of 5367 older Chinese adults aged over 60 years from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) were selected as participants. The 2nd wave of the CHARLS in 2013 was selected as the baseline, and sociodemographic and health-related status baseline data were collected. The FRAIL Scale was used to measure frailty, while cognitive leisure activities were measured by the Cognitive Leisure Activity Index (CLAI) scores, which consisted of playing mahjong or cards, stock investment, and using the internet. After two years of follow-up, frailty transition from baseline was assessed at the 3rd wave of the CHARLS in 2015. Ordinal logistic regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between cognitive leisure activities and frailty transitions.ResultsDuring the two-year follow-up of 5367 participants, the prevalence of frailty that improved, remained the same and worsened was 17.8% (957/5367), 57.5% (3084/5367) and 24.7% (1326/5367), respectively. Among all participants, 79.7% (4276/5367), 19.6% (1054/5367), and 0.7% (37/5367) had CLAI scores of 0, 1, and 2 to 3, respectively. In the univariate analysis, there was a statistically significant association between a score of 2 to 3 on the Cognitive Leisure Activity Index and frailty transitions (odds ratio [OR] = 1.93, 95% CI 0.03 to 1.29, p = .04), while all other covariates were not significantly different across the three groups. After adjusting for covariates, participants with more cognitive leisure activities had a higher risk of frailty improvement than those without cognitive leisure activities (odds ratio [OR] = 1.99, 95% CI 1.05 to 3.76, p = .04).ConclusionsCognitive leisure activities were positively associated with the risk of frailty improvement in older adults, mainly when participating in multiple such activities. Older adults may be encouraged to participate in a wide variety of cognitive leisure activities to promote healthy aging.

Previous research has shown that intrusive thoughts in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) often focus on emotionally significant aspects of individuals’ lives (e.g., values and beliefs). The current study sought to expand our understanding of OC symptoms related to sexual orientation (SO-OC symptoms) by investigating the roles of homophobia (i.e., negative attitudes, affect, and behaviors toward individuals with a same-gender orientation) and disgust propensity and sensitivity. A total of 592 self-identified heterosexual college students were recruited to complete measures of homophobia, disgust propensity and sensitivity, and SO-OC symptoms. Results of separate parallel mediation analyses indicated that the relationships between homophobic affect/attitudes and avoidance/aggression on one hand, and SO-OC symptoms on the other, were partially mediated specifically by disgust sensitivity, after controlling for gender. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed, including how homophobia can be conceptualized as a disgust response in the treatment of SO-OC symptoms, as well as how other constructs of potential interest (sexual and moral disgust, religiosity, conservative sexual ideology) can be examined in future research.

Disgust sensitivity selectively predicts attitudes toward groups that threaten (or uphold) traditional sexual morality

Disgust influences how people perceive and judge moral violations. Individuals who are more sensitive to disgust often judge such violations more harshly. This sensitivity may change depending on the context, like the age of the person committing the act. However, there's limited and inconsistent evidence on how disgust sensitivity and feelings of disgust affect moral judgments toward older adults. This study aimed to find out if disgust sensitivity and induced feelings of disgust affect moral judgments differently based on the age of the person involved. Specifically, we examined whether people relate their disgust sensitivity differently when judging actions by young versus old individuals and whether showing disgusting images influences the harshness of moral judgments differently depending on the actor's age. We conducted a preregistered experiment with 235 adult participants. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: "Old" or "Young." They read 24 stories about moral violations committed by either old or young individuals. Before each story, participants were briefly shown an image that was either disgusting, sad, or neutral. They then rated the acceptability of the behavior on a scale. Participants also filled out questionnaires measuring their disgust sensitivity, attitudes toward age, and emotions toward young and old people. The findings showed that higher disgust sensitivity was linked to harsher moral judgments, regardless of the age of the person committing the violation. This means that how sensitive someone is to disgust affects their moral judgments in the same way for both young and old actors. However, when participants were shown disgusting images before reading about an older person committing a moral violation, they judged the behavior less harshly compared to when the actor was young. This effect was not seen with sad or neutral images. There was also no significant interaction between the type of image shown and the participant's disgust sensitivity. The study suggests that disgust has a complex role in moral judgments. While personal sensitivity to disgust leads to harsher judgments no matter who is involved, feelings of disgust induced by images can influence judgments differently based on the age of the person committing the act.

Cancer represents a major public health problem worldwide, especially in the older adult population which is increasing rapidly. Previous studies show that the majority of older adults with cancer report poor health-related quality of life (QoL) and that up to 90% of patients with metastases or terminal stage disease complain of pain at some point. Nevertheless, the impact of pain and disability on highly important aspects of older adults’ health, such as intimacy or the perception of autonomy, has been scarcely studied. This cross-sectional study aimed to identify the association between poor pain management and disability for activities of daily living (ADL) and 6 aspects of older adults’ health assessed by a short version of the WHOQOL-OLD module in 891 older male patients with a newly diagnosed malignant neoplasm. The mean age of the participants was 79.1 years (SD 3.2) and the most frequent tumor location was the prostate. In the adjusted analyses, the raw total score of the WHOQOL-OLD module decreased by 7.43 in patients with ADL disability and by 9.44 points in patients with poor pain management. Comprehensive and adequate diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to pain and disability are recommended in older adults with cancer to improve health-related QoL and impact aspects of health such as those assessed by the WHOQOL-OLD.

This study analyzed the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and life satisfaction among older adults, examining the moderating effects of two components of digital literacy: digital adaptability and digital device competency. The analysis was conducted using data from the 2023 Surveys on Current Status of Senior Citizens, a nationally representative dataset that captures various aspects of older adults’lives in South Korea. Results indicated that SES significantly influenced the life satisfaction of older adults, and digital adaptability acted as a protective factor moderating this relationship. Specifically, older adults with greater confidence in adapting to digital environments experienced a reduced negative impact of socioeconomic inequalities on their life satisfaction. Conversely, although digital device competency positively influenced life satisfaction, it did not moderate the impact of SES. These findings suggest that merely enhancing skills in digital device usage has limited efficacy in addressing socioeconomic disparities, while strengthening older adults' perceptions of digital adaptability could be a more effective strategy. Consequently, the study proposes the following policy implications: First, it is necessary to develop programs beyond technology-centric digital education to enhance older adults' digital adaptability and promote social participation. Second, integrated educational programs that simultaneously enhance digital device competency and digital adaptability perceptions should be established to improve information accessibility and support social network expansion. Third, establishing community-based 'Digital Community Hubs' is critical for providing continuous community-supported access to digital environments for older adults.

The identification of the relationship between nursing students’ disgust sensitivity and willingness to care for the elderly: The case of a university

Older adults' subjective age and post-traumatic symptoms during Wartime: The role of future time perspective.

The role of intergroup disgust in predicting negative outgroup evaluations