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Incidental Disgust Increases Adherence to Left-Wing Economic Attitudes

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Abstract

Previous research has suggested that disgust is associated with conservative political attitudes (Cognit Emot, 23:714–725 by Inbar et al. 2009). The present research evaluated whether disgust can also lead to more liberal attitudes, due to its relation to fairness-related violations. Across three studies, we demonstrated that inducing feelings of disgust lead participants to adopt more left-wing political attitudes with regard to economic issues. In Study 1, participants induced to experience disgust by looking at four photographs reported more left-wing economic attitudes than participants who were exposed to sadness-inducing images. In Study 2, the same effect was observed but only for participants who had greater sensitivity to their bodily sensations. Study 3 replicated Studies 1–2 and also showed that besides economic attitudes, participants’ general political orientation was also shifted toward the liberal spectrum by a disgust induction. Taken together, these results provide evidence for a relationship between feelings of disgust and the endorsement of equality-promoting political attitudes. Our results, therefore, provide a different perspectives on disgust and the first evidence that it can also lead people to adopt more liberal attitudes on economic issues.

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Notes

  1. The IAPS numbers for the pictures used in the disgust condition were: 9301 (toilet), 9302 (toilet), 9322 (vomit), and 9325 (vomit). For the sadness condition the following pictures were used: 2205 (hospital), 2276 (crying girl), 6838 (police), and 9184 (injured dog).

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge funding support from Romanian-American Foundation, Dinu Patriciu Foundation, Ratiu Foundation, and Christ Church (University of Oxford). We also acknowledge Nicholas Cooper, Jim Everett, Thomas Hocking, and Yiu Luke for assistance with participant recruitment and data collection.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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  1. Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, 9 South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3UD, UK

    Dragos C. Petrescu & Brian Parkinson

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  1. Dragos C. Petrescu
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Correspondence to Dragos C. Petrescu.

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Petrescu, D.C., Parkinson, B. Incidental Disgust Increases Adherence to Left-Wing Economic Attitudes. Soc Just Res 27, 464–486 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-014-0221-7

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