Responsibility/Threat Overestimation Moderates the Relationship Between Contamination-Based Disgust and Obsessive-Compulsive Concerns About Sexual Orientation

Archives of Sexual Behavior
Terence H W ChingBunmi O Olatunji

Abstract

Disgust has been shown to perform a "disease-avoidance" function in contamination fears. However, no studies have examined the relevance of disgust to obsessive-compulsive (OC) concerns about sexual orientation (e.g., fear of one's sexual orientation transforming against one's will, and compulsive avoidance of same-sex and/or gay or lesbian individuals to prevent that from happening). Therefore, we investigated whether the specific domain of contamination-based disgust (i.e., evoked by the perceived threat of transmission of essences between individuals) predicted OC concerns about sexual orientation, and whether this effect was moderated/amplified by obsessive beliefs, in evaluation of a "sexual orientation transformation-avoidance" function. We recruited 283 self-identified heterosexual college students (152 females, 131 males; mean age = 20.88 years, SD = 3.19) who completed three measures assessing disgust, obsessive beliefs, and OC concerns about sexual orientation. Results showed that contamination-based disgust (β = .17), responsibility/threat overestimation beliefs (β = .15), and their interaction (β = .17) each uniquely predicted OC concerns about sexual orientation, ts = 2.22, 2.50, and 2.90, ps < .05. Post hoc probin...Continue Reading

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Citations

Aug 11, 2018·Current Psychiatry Reports·Kelly A KnowlesBunmi O Olatunji
Jan 22, 2021·Cognitive Behaviour Therapy·Terence H W ChingMonnica T Williams

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