Finken, Alina (2023) The Influence of Sex-Related Experiences and Psychopathy on Self-Disgust. Master thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
Self-disgust, the feeling of detestation aimed at the self, has been linked to adverse mental health outcomes and has been theorized to be elicited by sex-related experiences via three disgust pathways (sexual, moral, and pathogen). This theory was first tested with the use of sex-related scenarios by the preceding study of Brouwer et al. (2023) which found supporting results. Furthermore, psychopathy has been suggested to result in a lowered experience of the three disgust types, due to altered coping strategies, and altered moral and sexual behavior, which may translate to self-disgust. Therefore, the three disgust pathways were hypothesized to elicit self-disgust, and heightened psychopathy was hypothesized to result in lower sexual, moral, and pathogen self-disgust. The current study aimed to replicate and extend the findings by Brouwer et al. (2023) and used a cross-sectional within-subjects design with a mixed-gender sample (N = 72). Participants imagined themselves in eleven experimental sex-related sexual, moral, and pathogen scenarios, and imagined others in eleven matching control scenarios. Self-disgust was measured by subjective self-disgust measures and the urge to wash, and psychopathy was measured with a self-report questionnaire. The results showed that for all three disgust pathways, the sex-related scenarios elicited self-disgust in women and men. Moreover, women higher in psychopathy experienced higher sexual, moral, and pathogen self-disgust, while there was no difference found for men. The results are in line with Brouwer et al. (2023)’s findings, and support the theory that the three sex-related disgust pathways elicit self-disgust. However, the results are not in line with the majority of research for psychopathy but support a smaller proportion of research which suggests either no differences or increased self-disgust in those higher in psychopathy. Lastly, the results show the relevance of further investigating self-disgust and influencing factors such as psychopathy, and may aid the development of future treatment approaches. Keywords: Self-disgust, Mental Contamination, Sex-related Scenarios, Psychopathy
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Borg, C. and Frey, M.I. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | Clinical Forensic Psychology and Victimology (FP) [Master Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 28 Jul 2023 08:03 |
| Last Modified: | 28 Jul 2023 08:03 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/2651 |
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