Body odour disgust sensitivity is associated with xenophobia: evidence from nine countries across five continents

Abstract

Body odour disgust sensitivity (BODS) reflects a behavioural disposition to avoid pathogens, and it may also involve social attitudes. Among participants in the USA, high levels of BODS were associated with stronger xenophobia towards a fictitious refugee group. To test the generalizability of this finding, we analysed data from nine countries across five continents ( N = 6836). Using structural equation modelling, we found support for our pre-registered hypotheses: higher BODS levels were associated with more xenophobic attitudes; this relationship was partially explained by perceived dissimilarities of the refugees' norms regarding hygiene and food preparation, and general attitudes toward immigration. Our results support a theoretical notion of how pathogen avoidance is associated with social attitudes: ‘traditional norms’ often involve behaviours that limit inter-group contact, social mobility and situations that might lead to pathogen exposure. Our results also indicate that the positive relationship between BODS and xenophobia is robust across cultures.

Discriminating between sick and healthy faces based on early sickness cues: an exploratory analysis of sex differences

“…High BODS scores are positively associated with disgust ratings of sweat odors suggesting that BODS is a valid marker of olfactory disgust [ 46 ]. Our finding that body odor disgust predicts the tendency to classify individuals as sick, but not discriminability, may be linked with previous research showing that individuals that are highly disgusted by body odors have more negative views of refugees [ 47 , 48 ] and sympathize more with right-wing authoritarianism [ 49 ], two ideological dispositions that may restrict inter-group contact and social mobility. Hence, it could be speculated that high body odor disgust sensitivity arises from a dispositional bias that leans toward classifying other individuals as pathogen threats.…”

Italian validation of the body odor disgust scale

“…In a recent cross-national study on nine different countries (Italy, Sweden, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong, Kenya, Nigeria, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom; Zakrzewska et al, 2023a), we found preliminary evidence for the validity of the BODS in these countries. However, in this study, we capitalize on previously collected datasets (one from the aforementioned study and one from an unpublished study) to validate the BODS more thoroughly in the Italian population.…”

“…In previous studies, we also provided criterion validity (Liuzza et al, 2017b;Zakrzewska et al, 2023b). In terms of nomological validity, the BODS also predicted relevant outcomes, such as explicit (Zakrzewska et al, 2019(Zakrzewska et al, , 2023a and implicit xenophobia (Zakrzewska and Liuzza et al, 2019), authoritarianism (Liuzza et al, 2018), and moral harshness (Liuzza et al, 2019). Importantly, in the study on the relationship between the BODS and xenophobia in a US sample, we also refined the measurement model of the BODS, as we found it better modeled by a bifactor model with a general BODS factor, and two specific factors, one for the internal, and one for the external source.…”

“…Moreover, it is harder to unlearn an association between a neutral stimulus and disgust than fear (see a recent meta-analysis by Mitchell et al, 2024). Similarly, disgust may be triggered by stimuli that are not directly associated with pathogen threats, such as obese people (Park et al, 2007), outgroup members from unfamiliar groups (Faulkner et al, 2004;Zakrzewska et al, 2019Zakrzewska et al, , 2020Zakrzewska et al, , 2023aO'Shea et al, 2020; see Liuzza, 2020 for a review), or members of sexual minorities (Inbar et al, 2009(Inbar et al, , 2012van Leeuwen et al, 2023).…”

Relationship between disgust and orthorexia nervosa and psychometric properties of the Italian Dusseldorf orthorexia scale in a general population sample

“…The Body Odor Disgust Scale (BODS) was used to assess individual differences in disgust response to a variety of body odors. The BODS was first validated in English [ 12 ] and its Italian psychometric properties were assessed within a multi country study [ 34 ] The scale is a self-report questionnaire composed of 12 items and presents participants with a series of descriptions of situations (e.g., “You are standing next to a stranger and notice that the t-shirt they are wearing smells strongly from their sweat.”). Participants are asked to report on a five-point Likert-type item ranging from 1 ( Not disgusting at all ) to 5 ( Extremely disgusting ) the degree to which they found the situation disgusting.…”