The Emotion of Disgust among Medical and Psychology Students
Artemios Pehlivanidis,
Niki Pehlivanidi,
Katerina Papanikolaou,
Vassileios Mantas,
Elpida Bertou,
Theodoros Chalimourdas,
Vana Sypsa,
Charalambos Papageorgiou
Affiliations
Artemios Pehlivanidis
1st Department of Psychiatry, Medical School-National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Eginition Hospital, Vas Sophias 72, 11528 Athens, Greece
Niki Pehlivanidi
Medical School-National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Eginition Hospital, Vas Sophias 72, 11528 Athens, Greece
Katerina Papanikolaou
Department of Child Psychiatry, Medical School-National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, “Agia Sophia” Children’s Hospital, Thivon and Papadiamantopoulou Street, 11527 Athens, Greece
Vassileios Mantas
1st Department of Psychiatry, Medical School-National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Eginition Hospital, Vas Sophias 72, 11528 Athens, Greece
Elpida Bertou
School of Psychology-National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Eginition Hospital, Vas Sophias 72, 11528 Athens, Greece
Theodoros Chalimourdas
1st Department of Psychiatry, Medical School-National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Eginition Hospital, Vas Sophias 72, 11528 Athens, Greece
Vana Sypsa
Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Mikras Asias 75, 11527 Athens, Greece
Charalambos Papageorgiou
1st Department of Psychiatry, Medical School-National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Eginition Hospital, Vas Sophias 72, 11528 Athens, Greece
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 (n = 94) and psychology (n = 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 (p = 0.003). Psychology students scored higher in all three kinds of disgust (p p = 0.069 for contamination disgust), indicating a higher level of disease avoidance. Medical students willing to follow Internal Medicine scored higher in core disgust (p p = 0.019 and p < 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.
