انزجار و حساسیت انزجار در عنکبوت هراسی: صورت EMG در پاسخ به عنکبوت و تصاویر انزجار

Increasing evidence suggests that disgust and fear of contamination is involved in spider phobia. Yet, because the evidence exclusively relies on self-report data it can not be ruled out these findings are produced by mechanisms such as a negative attribution bias, or imprecise emotional labeling. Therefore, the present study sought to complement these previous studies by including physiological measures (i.e., facial EMG). Highly spider fearful (n=24) and explicitly nonfearful women (n=24) were exposed to general disgust-eliciting and spider relevant material using guided imagery (general disgust, spider) and video-exposure (general disgust only). Sustaining the idea that spider fearful individuals are characterized by a heightened disgust sensitivity, exposure to general (oral) disgust elicitors resulted in relatively strong disgust responses (self-report and EMG) in spider fearful women. In support of the idea that disgust is implicated in phobics’ emotional responding, spider-relevant imagery elicited disgust responses (self-report and EMG) in addition to fear. Accentuating the importance of contamination ideation in spider phobia, participants’ sensitivity to contagion (as indexed by the Magic Subscale of the Disgust Scale [Personality and Individual Differences 16 (1994) 701.]) was the single best predictor of elicited fear during spider imagery. Together, the available evidence converges to the conclusion that fear of contamination plays a pivotal role in the development of spider phobia.