Seeing others as a disease: The impact of physical (but not moral) disgust on biologization

Journal article

Roberta Rosa Valtorta, Cristina Baldissarri, Luca Andrighetto, Chiara Volpato
International Review of Social Psychology, vol. 34, 2021, p. 7

DOI: https://osf.io/rfyms

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APA Click to copy
Valtorta, R. R., Baldissarri, C., Andrighetto, L., & Volpato, C. (2021). Seeing others as a disease: The impact of physical (but not moral) disgust on biologization. International Review of Social Psychology, 34, 7. https://doi.org/https://osf.io/rfyms

Chicago/Turabian Click to copy
Valtorta, Roberta Rosa, Cristina Baldissarri, Luca Andrighetto, and Chiara Volpato. “Seeing Others as a Disease: The Impact of Physical (but Not Moral) Disgust on Biologization.” International Review of Social Psychology 34 (2021): 7.

MLA Click to copy
Valtorta, Roberta Rosa, et al. “Seeing Others as a Disease: The Impact of Physical (but Not Moral) Disgust on Biologization.” International Review of Social Psychology, vol. 34, 2021, p. 7, doi:https://osf.io/rfyms.

BibTeX Click to copy

@article{roberta2021a,
  title = {Seeing others as a disease: The impact of physical (but not moral) disgust on biologization},
  year = {2021},
  journal = {International Review of Social Psychology},
  pages = {7},
  volume = {34},
  doi = {https://osf.io/rfyms},
  author = {Valtorta, Roberta Rosa and Baldissarri, Cristina and Andrighetto, Luca and Volpato, Chiara}
}

Abstract

Through three studies (N = 306), we analyzed the association between physical disgust and implicit biologization - the perception of others as disease organisms. In doing so, we employed an adapted version of the Semantic Misattribution Procedure (SMP). Study 1 found that the higher was the level of physical (vs. moral) disgust that White participants felt toward Black people, the higher was their implicit tendency to biologize this ethnic group. Study 2 and Study 3 experimentally replicated the association between physical disgust and biologization by manipulating physical disgust through vignettes that portrayed a target behaving in a physically (vs. morally vs. non-disgusting) disgusting way. Results showed that participants assigned to the physical disgust condition biologized more the target - both implicitly and explicitly - than participants in the moral disgust and non-disgusting condition. Overall, these findings shed light on the biological dehumanization of others and its emotional roots, by thus paving the way for its prevention.