In Bad Taste: Evidence for the Oral Origins of Moral Disgust

Science 27 February 2009: Vol. 323. no. 5918, pp. 1222 - 1226 DOI: 10.1126/science.1165565

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REPORTS

In Bad Taste: Evidence for the Oral Origins of Moral Disgust

H. A. Chapman,^1* D. A. Kim,¹ J. M. Susskind,¹ A. K. Anderson^1,2*

In common parlance, moral transgressions "leave a bad taste in the mouth." This metaphor implies a link between moral disgust and more primitive forms of disgust related to toxicity and disease, yet convincing evidence for this relationship is still lacking. We tested directly the primitive oral origins of moral disgust by searching for similarity in the facial motor activity evoked by gustatory distaste (elicited by unpleasant tastes), basic disgust (elicited by photographs of contaminants), and moral disgust (elicited by unfair treatment in an economic game). We found that all three states evoked activation of the levator labii muscle region of the face, characteristic of an oralnasal rejection response. These results suggest that immorality elicits the same disgust as disease vectors and bad tastes.

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G3, Canada.
² Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Toronto, Ontario M6A 2E1, Canada.

Science 27 February 2009: Vol. 323. no. 5918, pp. 1222 - 1226 DOI: 10.1126/science.1165565

Prev | Table of Contents | Next