TITLE

How Disgust Explains Everything

For psychologists who study it, disgust is one of the primal emotions that define — and explain — humanity.

DESCRIPTION

This is one of the most fascinating articles that you will ever read:   THE TOPIC OF DISGUST!   The article primarily focuses on the work of Paul Rozin.  “Paul Rozin is known for many things — he is an eminent psychologist who taught at the University of Pennsylvania for 52 years, and he has gathered honors and fellowships and published hundreds of influential papers and served on editorial boards and as chairman of the university’s department of psychology — but he is best known for his work on the topic of disgust. In the early 1980s, Rozin noticed that there was surprisingly little data available on this universal aspect of life. Odd, he thought, that of the six so-called basic emotions — anger, surprise, fear, enjoyment, sadness, disgust — the last had hardly been studied….Disgust shapes our behavior, our technology, our relationships….The more you read about the history of the emotion, the more convinced you might be that disgust is the energy powering a whole host of seemingly unrelated phenomena, from our never-ending culture wars to the existence of kosher laws to 4chan to mermaids. Disgust is a bodily experience that creeps into every corner of our social lives, a piece of evolutionary hardware designed to protect our stomachs that expanded into a system for protecting our souls.”   

The article is rich in stories and anecdotes of the absolutely fascinating research done on the topic of disgust.  Additionally, the article discusses cultural and social aspects along with religion, politics, geographical references.  The studies are fascinating!!!  

The article is very lengthy and also provides a 41 minute audio reading.   This paper can serve as a great resource in the understanding of a real life phenomenon and how Psychologists can do research.

SOURCE

New York Times Magazine, December 27, 2021, by Molly Young

LINK TO RESOURCE

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/27/magazine/disgust-science.html?smid=em-share

(Tiny URL)  https://tinyurl.com/2p845y2p

CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

•According to Rozin, what is “disgust”?  How does it shape our lives?

•How is disgust demonstrated in the following areas:  food preferences, bodily functions, politics, religious practices?

•If you were to discuss this paper with your classmates, which studies (at least two) would you cite?  Why did you pick these in particular?