The Emotion of Disgust among Medical and Psychology Students
The emotion of disgust evolved as a way to protect oneself from illness and is associated with aspects of disease avoidance. Disgust Scale–Revised (DS-R) (Olatunji et al., 2008) measures the disgust propensity of three kinds of disgust (core, animal reminder, contamination). Contextual factors, such...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-11-01
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| Series: | Diseases |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9721/8/4/43 |
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| author | Artemios Pehlivanidis Niki Pehlivanidi Katerina Papanikolaou Vassileios Mantas Elpida Bertou Theodoros Chalimourdas Vana Sypsa Charalambos Papageorgiou |
| author_facet | Artemios Pehlivanidis Niki Pehlivanidi Katerina Papanikolaou Vassileios Mantas Elpida Bertou Theodoros Chalimourdas Vana Sypsa Charalambos Papageorgiou |
| author_sort | Artemios Pehlivanidis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The emotion of disgust evolved as a way to protect oneself from illness and is associated with aspects of disease avoidance. Disgust Scale–Revised (DS-R) (Olatunji et al., 2008) measures the disgust propensity of three kinds of disgust (core, animal reminder, contamination). Contextual factors, such as academic background, might influence DS-R scoring, especially among medical students, where the notion of disease is central. We examined DS-R scoring and the choice of postgraduate studies in medical (<i>n</i> = 94) and psychology (<i>n</i> = 97) students. In an anonymous web-based survey, participants completed the DS-R and a questionnaire including plans for postgraduate studies. Females outnumbered males and scored higher in total DS-R score (<i>p</i> = 0.003). Psychology students scored higher in all three kinds of disgust (<i>p</i> < 0.001 for core disgust and animal reminder, <i>p</i> = 0.069 for contamination disgust), indicating a higher level of disease avoidance. Medical students willing to follow Internal Medicine scored higher in core disgust (<i>p</i> < 0.05), while psychology students willing to study Experimental Psychology scored lower in the animal reminder subscale (<i>p</i> = 0.019 and <i>p</i> < 0.001 for the association between these subscales and the orientation of Medical and Psychology Students, respectively). In conclusion, disgust propensity as rated by DS-R is related to academic background and orientation preferences in postgraduate studies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T14:51:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e6b8ce4c4a9343faaecd308eddad9132 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-9721 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T14:51:18Z |
| publishDate | 2020-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Diseases |
| spelling | doaj.art-e6b8ce4c4a9343faaecd308eddad91322023-11-20T21:01:08ZengMDPI AGDiseases2079-97212020-11-01844310.3390/diseases8040043The Emotion of Disgust among Medical and Psychology StudentsArtemios Pehlivanidis0Niki Pehlivanidi1Katerina Papanikolaou2Vassileios Mantas3Elpida Bertou4Theodoros Chalimourdas5Vana Sypsa6Charalambos Papageorgiou71st Department of Psychiatry, Medical School-National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Eginition Hospital, Vas Sophias 72, 11528 Athens, GreeceMedical School-National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Eginition Hospital, Vas Sophias 72, 11528 Athens, GreeceDepartment of Child Psychiatry, Medical School-National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, “Agia Sophia” Children’s Hospital, Thivon and Papadiamantopoulou Street, 11527 Athens, Greece1st Department of Psychiatry, Medical School-National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Eginition Hospital, Vas Sophias 72, 11528 Athens, GreeceSchool of Psychology-National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Eginition Hospital, Vas Sophias 72, 11528 Athens, Greece1st Department of Psychiatry, Medical School-National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Eginition Hospital, Vas Sophias 72, 11528 Athens, GreeceDepartment of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Mikras Asias 75, 11527 Athens, Greece1st Department of Psychiatry, Medical School-National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Eginition Hospital, Vas Sophias 72, 11528 Athens, GreeceThe emotion of disgust evolved as a way to protect oneself from illness and is associated with aspects of disease avoidance. Disgust Scale–Revised (DS-R) (Olatunji et al., 2008) measures the disgust propensity of three kinds of disgust (core, animal reminder, contamination). Contextual factors, such as academic background, might influence DS-R scoring, especially among medical students, where the notion of disease is central. We examined DS-R scoring and the choice of postgraduate studies in medical (<i>n</i> = 94) and psychology (<i>n</i> = 97) students. In an anonymous web-based survey, participants completed the DS-R and a questionnaire including plans for postgraduate studies. Females outnumbered males and scored higher in total DS-R score (<i>p</i> = 0.003). Psychology students scored higher in all three kinds of disgust (<i>p</i> < 0.001 for core disgust and animal reminder, <i>p</i> = 0.069 for contamination disgust), indicating a higher level of disease avoidance. Medical students willing to follow Internal Medicine scored higher in core disgust (<i>p</i> < 0.05), while psychology students willing to study Experimental Psychology scored lower in the animal reminder subscale (<i>p</i> = 0.019 and <i>p</i> < 0.001 for the association between these subscales and the orientation of Medical and Psychology Students, respectively). In conclusion, disgust propensity as rated by DS-R is related to academic background and orientation preferences in postgraduate studies.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9721/8/4/43disgustDS-Rmedical studentspsychology studentsacademic orientationspecialization |
| spellingShingle | Artemios Pehlivanidis Niki Pehlivanidi Katerina Papanikolaou Vassileios Mantas Elpida Bertou Theodoros Chalimourdas Vana Sypsa Charalambos Papageorgiou The Emotion of Disgust among Medical and Psychology Students Diseases disgust DS-R medical students psychology students academic orientation specialization |
| title | The Emotion of Disgust among Medical and Psychology Students |
| title_full | The Emotion of Disgust among Medical and Psychology Students |
| title_fullStr | The Emotion of Disgust among Medical and Psychology Students |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Emotion of Disgust among Medical and Psychology Students |
| title_short | The Emotion of Disgust among Medical and Psychology Students |
| title_sort | emotion of disgust among medical and psychology students |
| topic | disgust DS-R medical students psychology students academic orientation specialization |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9721/8/4/43 |
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