Sex differences and sex similarities in disgust sensitivity

Tybur, Joshua M.; Bryan, Angela D.; Lieberman, Debra; Hooper, Ann E. Caldwell; Merriman, Leslie A.

doi:10.1016/j.paid.2011.04.003

Cited by 126 publications

(126 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Women completed more words in accordance to the cleanness theme than men, M = 0.32, SD = 0.34 vs. M = 0.06, SD = 0.17, respectively. This is consistent with results indicating that women are more sensitive to disgust than men are (Druschel & Sherman, 1999;Tybur, Bryan, Lieberman, Hooper, & Merriman, 2011) and that the link between disgust sensitivity and attitudes towards homosexual men may differ between man and women (Inbar et al, 2012;Olatunji, 2008). Studies have also found that women hold more positive attitudes towards gay people than men (Kite & Whitely, 1996).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 86%

Prejudice towards gay men and a need for physical cleansing

Zavala¹,

Waldzus²,

Cypryańska³

2014

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 86%

Prejudice towards gay men and a need for physical cleansing

Zavala¹,

Waldzus²,

Cypryańska³

2014

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

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“…However, results suggested that the disgust sensitivity instrument had similar validity across samples. In addition to observing a relationship between disgust sensitivity and traditionalism across nations, we replicated previously reported sex-related differences in disgust sensitivity (37,38), with women consistently scoring higher than men across nations [t(20.73) = 16.46, P < 0.001, meta-analyzed d = 0.41, 95% CI (0.36, 0.45)].…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 85%

Parasite stress and pathogen avoidance relate to distinct dimensions of political ideology across 30 nations

Tybur

Inbar

Aarøe

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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234

249

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People who are more avoidant of pathogens are more politically conservative, as are nations with greater parasite stress. In the current research, we test two prominent hypotheses that have been proposed as explanations for these relationships. The first, which is an intragroup account, holds that these relationships between pathogens and politics are based on motivations to adhere to local norms, which are sometimes shaped by cultural evolution to have pathogenneutralizing properties. The second, which is an intergroup account, holds that these same relationships are based on motivations to avoid contact with outgroups, who might pose greater infectious disease threats than ingroup members. Results from a study surveying 11,501 participants across 30 nations are more consistent with the intragroup account than with the intergroup account. National parasite stress relates to traditionalism (an aspect of conservatism especially related to adherence to group norms) but not to social dominance orientation (SDO; an aspect of conservatism especially related to endorsements of intergroup barriers and negativity toward ethnic and racial outgroups). Further, individual differences in pathogen-avoidance motives (i.e., disgust sensitivity) relate more strongly to traditionalism than to SDO within the 30 nations.political ideology | pathogens | disgust | culture | evolutionary psychology T he costs imposed by pathogens on their hosts have spurred the evolution of complex antipathogen defenses, many of which are behavioral (1, 2). In humans, such defenses range from the proximate avoidance of pathogen cues to the execution of complex rituals, often with far-reaching consequences (3). At the individual level, functionally specialized psychological mechanisms detect pathogen cues and motivate avoidance of physical contact with pathogens [e.g., via the emotion of disgust (4)]. These mechanisms, which have been collectively referred to as the behavioral immune system, influence, among other things, mate preferences (5, 6), dietary preferences (7), and person perception (8) (summarized in Significance Pathogens, and antipathogen behavioral strategies, affect myriad aspects of human behavior. Recent findings suggest that antipathogen strategies relate to political attitudes, with more ideologically conservative individuals reporting more disgust toward pathogen cues, and with higher parasite stress nations being, on average, more conservative. However, no research has yet adjudicated between two theoretical accounts proposed to explain these relationships between pathogens and politics. We find that national parasite stress and individual disgust sensitivity relate more strongly to adherence to traditional norms than they relate to support for barriers between social groups. These results suggest that the relationship between pathogens and politics reflects intragroup motivations more than intergroup motivations.

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“…For example, sex differences in dismissing attachment are attenuated in high stress nations, perhaps by women's greater psychological responsiveness to high pathogen ecologies (Schmitt et al, 2003;Tybur, Bryan, Lieberman, Caldwell Hooper, and Merriman, 2011). For dozens of attributes across a wide variety of psychological domains, such facultative adaptations can lead to the counterintuitive result of larger sex differences being present in nations with higher sociopolitical gender parity (for a review, see Schmitt, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When the Difference is in the Details: A Critique of “Stepping out of the Caveman's Shadow: Nations' Gender Gap Predicts Degree of Sex Differentiation in Mate Preferences”

Schmitt

2012

Evol Psychol

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Abstract:In a recent 10-nation study, Zentner and Mitura (2012) reported observing smaller sex differences in mate preferences within nations that have higher gender parity. As noted in previous research, and in a re-analysis of Zentner and Mitura's own data, sex differences in some mate preferences (e.g., long-term mate preferences for physical attractiveness) are either unrelated to or actually get larger with higher national gender parity. It is critically important to distinguish among mate preference domains when looking for patterns of sexual differentiation across nations. Indeed, for many psychological domains (e.g., attachment styles, Big Five traits, Dark Triad traits, selfesteem, personal values, depression, emotional expression, crying behavior, intimate partner violence, tested mental abilities, health indicators; see Schmitt, 2012), sex differences are demonstrably larger in nations with higher sociopolitical gender parity. By not distinguishing among mate preferences, Zentner and Mitura committed a form of the ecological fallacy-making false conclusions about individual mate preferences when looking only at associations among groups of mate preferences.

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Sex differences and sex similarities in disgust sensitivity

Cited by 126 publications

References 32 publications

Prejudice towards gay men and a need for physical cleansing

Prejudice towards gay men and a need for physical cleansing

Parasite stress and pathogen avoidance relate to distinct dimensions of political ideology across 30 nations

When the Difference is in the Details: A Critique of “Stepping out of the Caveman's Shadow: Nations' Gender Gap Predicts Degree of Sex Differentiation in Mate Preferences”

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