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Disgust sensitivity in relation to menstrual cycle phase in women with and without an infection
Author(s) -
Milkowska Karolina,
Galbarczyk Andrzej,
Jasienska Grazyna
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
american journal of human biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.559
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1520-6300
pISSN - 1042-0533
DOI - 10.1002/ajhb.23233
Subject(s) - disgust , luteal phase , menstrual cycle , follicular phase , physiology , menstruation , medicine , psychology , gynecology , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , hormone , anger
Objectives The compensatory prophylaxis hypothesis (CPH) proposes that evolved psychological mechanisms enhance the avoidance of potential contaminants during periods of reproductive immunomodulation in order to decrease a chance of infection. However, the results of previous studies are inconclusive. Our aim was to investigate the differences in disgust sensitivity during phases of menstrual cycle in regularly cycling young healthy women and among women who reported having an infection. Methods The disgust sensitivity was measured using Two Domains of the Three Domain Disgust Scale (TDDS), Padua Inventory (PI), and photographs during the internet‐based survey. Women ( N = 527) were divided by phases of menstrual cycle using two different methods on the basis of reported cycle length and the number of days since the onset of their most recent menstrual bleeding. Results The women who had an infection and who were in luteal phase had higher scores in Pathogen Disgust Domain than women in follicular phase. However, they did not differ in other assessments of disgust sensitivity. Conclusions The results provide weak support for the CPH hypothesis. We found differences in disgust sensitivity in women who declared having an infection—participants in the luteal phase scored higher in the Pathogen Domain Scale of TDDS than women in the follicular phase. We suggest that future studies should measure levels of sex steroids and immunological markers of infection.