Specific and differential prediction of health anxiety by disgust sensitivity and propensity

Current models of health anxiety suggest that fear resulting from false alarms to perceived threats to one's health results in the development of hypochondriasis and related disorders. Disgust has been proposed as an affective response that may function as an etiological and maintenance mechanism in health anxiety. Moreover, the way in which an individual perceives the disgust response (disgust sensitivity) may affect health anxiety, separately from their likelihood of experiencing disgust (disgust propensity). The present study utilized multiple hierarchical regression analysis to investigate the degree to which self-reported disgust sensitivity and disgust propensity differentially predict elevated health anxiety in a sample of 620 non-treatment-seeking undergraduates. Further, this effect is tested in comparison to that of anxiety sensitivity, a construct demonstrated to be strongly related to health anxiety. Analyses indicate that disgust sensitivity, rather than disgust propensity, is primarily responsible for this relation. An additional analysis tested the specificity of disgust sensitivity relative to anxiety sensitivity. Disgust sensitivity was no longer significant after including anxiety sensitivity in the model. Suggestions for further evaluation of this relation are provided. These results suggest that although disgust sensitivity may appear related to health anxiety, this relation may be confounded by anxiety sensitivity.     

The Positive Influence of Creating a Holistic Facial Composite on Video Line‐up Identification

Witnesses to a crime may be asked to create a facial composite of the offender from memory. They may then view a suspect in a police line‐up. Previous research on this topic has found both recognition impairment and enhancement following composite construction. In Experiment 1, creator‐participants employed the holistic facial composite system system EFIT‐V or the feature‐based E‐FIT system to create a single composite, and in Experiment 2, creators constructed up to three EFIT‐Vs. In both experiments, facial composite creators were one‐and‐a‐half times more likely than non‐composite creating controls to make correct target identifications from a video line‐up. No between condition effects were found in target‐absent trials in Experiment 1. The development of holistic facial composite systems has enhanced suspect identification rates in police investigations, and these results suggest that the use of such a system can also have a positive influence on a composite‐creating witness' later recognition of the suspect. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Musical Preferences as a Function of Stimulus Complexity of Piano Jazz

Seven excerpts of modern jazz piano improvisations were selected to represent a range of perceived complexities. Audio recordings of the excerpts were played for 27 listeners who were asked to indicate their level of enjoyment on 7-point scales. Indications of enjoyment followed an inverted-U when plotted against perceived complexity of the music. Overall enjoyment was less for nonmusician listeners than for musician listeners. The inverted-U function was similar to the relations predicted by Wundt, over 100 years ago, and obtained by other investigators for responses to classical piano music and nonvocal New Age music. Assuming that perceived complexity generates comparable arousal levels, these findings substantiate optimal level of stimulation theory.     

Cleaning Up the Dirty Work: Professionalization and the Management of Stigma in the Cosmetic Surgery and Tattoo Industries

This article considers the similarities between the cosmetic surgery and tattoo industries, focusing on how each has transitioned from a disreputable and deviant industry to achieve varying degrees of mainstream acceptance and success. Specifically, each industry is conceptualized as engaging in “dirty work” requiring practitioners to actively reframe and legitimate their respective industry. Using Event Structure Analysis, I model and compare the development of each industry based on linear historical narratives. The resulting models illustrate the importance of events within each narrative along with their relationship to each other. Findings suggest that the creation of industry-wide professional organizations is integral to changing public perception of a given industry. Furthermore, findings show that the more hierarchical structure of the cosmetic surgery industry, as well as its integration into the medical industry, have helped it to thrive in a manner that contrasts sharply with the more disorganized structure of the tattoo industry.     

Marked Difference: Tattooing and its Association with Deviance in the United States

Despite historical associations with deviance and marginality, tattooing is practiced by a diverse population in the United States today, leading some to argue that it has grown beyond its negative associations. Drawing on a nationally representative data set (n = 500) comprised of both tattooed and non-tattooed respondents, this analysis examines the social characteristics of those who are tattooed and the associations of tattooing with deviant behavior. Findings indicate that while tattooing has developed a broad demographic appeal, there remain some strong associations with deviance, particularly criminality. Specifically, highly visible placement of tattoos appears to be most strongly associated with deviant behaviors.     

Preliminary Psychometric Evidence for Distinct Affective and Cognitive Mechanisms Mediating Contamination Aversion

Contamination aversion is implicated in a range of psychological disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and health anxiety. Despite broad implications, the core mechanisms mediating contamination aversion are mixed and have not clearly been elucidated. The present studies are psychometric investigations of the components of contamination aversion and tests of the different mechanisms that mediate the severity of these components. In Study 1, items from existing measures of contamination aversion were compiled into one measure and administered to a large sample of nonclinical participants (N?=?1,286). Exploratory factor analyses demonstrated a two-factor structure, with one factor comprised of items related to intrinsically (direct) contaminated objects and the other factor comprised of items related to extrinsically (indirect) contaminated objects. In Study 2, items were added and confirmatory factor analyses supported a two-factor model in another large nonclinical sample (N?=?612). In Study 3 (N?=?471), structural modeling demonstrated distinct relations between the two factors and affective and cognitive constructs. Affective constructs related more to aversions toward more directly contaminated objects and situations while cognitive constructs related more to aversions toward more indirectly contaminated objects and situations. The present studies help clarify and articulate the unique roles of cognition and affect in specific contamination aversions, and, as such, have important implications for conceptual modeling of contamination-related psychopathology.     

The Field of Science and Religion as Natural Philosophy

“Natural philosophy” is an important term from the history of science because it was used to describe the study of nature during medieval and early modern Europe. This article gives an overview of the history of natural philosophy, since the use and eventual disuse of the term helps one to understand the emergence of modern science. Following a suggestion by the historian of science Peter Dear, I argue that the term deserves to be rehabilitated because it draws attention to the complexities of scientific theorizing. The article concludes with an argument that the field of science and religion should be seen as an updated version of natural philosophy.