Disgust as Embodied Moral Judgment

TLDR

The study investigates how disgust influences moral judgments and for whom. Four experiments induced disgust—via a bad smell, a disgusting room, a recalled disgusting experience, or a video—while participants made moral judgments. Disgust increased moral judgment severity relative to controls, with effects differing by emotion type and bodily sensitivity, highlighting the specific role of gut feelings.

Abstract

How, and for whom, does disgust influence moral judgment? In four experiments participants made moral judgments while experiencing extraneous feelings of disgust. Disgust was induced in Experiment 1 by exposure to a bad smell, in Experiment 2 by working in a disgusting room, in Experiment 3 by recalling a physically disgusting experience, and in Experiment 4 through a video induction. In each case, the results showed that disgust can increase the severity of moral judgments relative to controls. Experiment 4 found that disgust had a different effect on moral judgment than did sadness. In addition, Experiments 2-4 showed that the role of disgust in severity of moral judgments depends on participants' sensitivity to their own bodily sensations. Taken together, these data indicate the importance-and specificity-of gut feelings in moral judgments.