Disgust-Eliciting Pathogen Threats and Salivary Immune Responses

Abstract. This study aimed to examine the effects of different sensory modality presentations of disgusting stimuli on aspects of immunity (behavioral and physiological) and affect in men and women. Sixty-four college students participated, and all participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups based on sensory modality stimuli type (visual or olfactory) and manipulation (experimental or control). Results indicated that olfactory stimuli were rated as more disgusting than visual stimuli. When collapsed across sensory modality, females tended to self-report greater disgust sensitivity than males. Overall, there was a significant negative association between disgust ratings and changes in resting heart rate (HR). Baseline salivary immunoglobulin A (SIgA) concentration was significantly positively correlated with disgust ratings in men. Our findings suggest that the behavioral and physiological immune systems are indeed coordinated, but future studies are needed to examine the extent to which multisensory disgusting cues influence immune system responses as a function of gender.