The implications of self-reported and physiologically measured disgust sensitivity for climate change risk perception
by
Soobin Choi,
Stuart Neil Soroka
and
Gavin Ploger
This study examines the relationship between disgust sensitivity and climate change risk perceptions, using both self-reported and psychophysiological measures of disgust sensitivity. We find that disgust sensitivity is connected to climate change risk perception, although results are far weaker with physiological measures than with self-reports. Results consequently suggest that the connection may stem more from cognitive and expressive factors than implicit biological impulses. Given theoretical functions of disgust, these findings offer valuable insights regarding the structure of environmental attitudes and heterogeneity in the effects of science and environmental communication.
Volume 24 • Issue 07 • 2025