We should talk about disgust: a critical review.
A review about disgust
Keywords:
Disgust; Disgust Proneness; Disgust Sensibility; Moral Disgust; Self DisgustAbstract
Disgust was almost completely ignored until the mid-1990s, as until then, there were virtually no articles published on disgust. The aim of this article was to critically review the literature on the concept and expression of disgust, as well as its applications. Disgust was contextualized as an emotion of evolutionary, biological and social relevance for enabling the avoidance of contamination by pathogens, presenting itself as one of the most important mechanisms for the human being as it helps in the prevention of diseases, as well as for the social function of moral disgust. The disgust proneness and its components of propensity, sensitivity and reactivity may be associated with mental disorders, social contexts and self-perception. Treatments for mental disorders associated with disgust do not have specific protocols for disgust. So far there are only adaptations of protocols used for fear, such as exposure therapy. Given the importance of disgust and the presence of this emotion in so many contexts, it is necessary to directly address this emotion and its interfaces in psychology.