Background: Disorders like obsessive-compulsive disorder are associated with heightened disgust. Research suggests that dominant methods for treating such disorders (e.g., exposure therapies) are less effective at targeting disgust. Alternative strategies are needed to enhance treatment effectiveness.

Methods: In two studies, we investigated positive emotion (elicited via humorous content) for attenuating disgust responses to film clips. In Study 1, n = 174 undergraduates were randomized to view either a humorous, sad, or neutral clip prior to a disgusting clip. In study 2, n = 294 undergraduate participants were randomized to either view two clips with discrete emotional content (purely disgusting and purely amusing) or two mixed emotional clips (disgust mixed with amusement, amusement mixed with disgust).

Results: Results of Study 1 showed that the humorous clip buffered against ratings of disgust. In Study 2, humorous content reduced reports of disgust. For both studies, the effect of the manipulation was not moderated by clinical characteristics, like disgust proneness, contamination concerns, or depression.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that positive emotions can alter the appraisal of disgusting content, attenuating feelings of disgust, with potential clinical implications for treatment.

Keywords: disgust; exposure therapy; humor; positive emotion; psychopathology.

Copyright © 2025 Mitchell and Coifman.

背景：

强迫症等疾病与强烈的厌恶感有关。研究表明，治疗此类疾病的主流方法（如暴露疗法）在针对厌恶感方面效果较差。需要寻找替代策略以增强治疗方法的效果。

方法：

我们在两项研究中调查了积极情绪（通过幽默内容引发）对电影片段引起的恶心反应的缓解作用。在第一项研究中，n=174名大学生随机观看了一个幽默、悲伤或中性片断后才观看一个令人厌恶的片断。在第二项研究中，n=294名大学参与者被随机分配去看两个情感内容独立的片段（纯粹恶心和纯粹有趣）或者两个混合情感片段（恶心与乐趣混合、乐趣与恶心混合）。

结果：

第一项研究的结果显示，幽默片断可以缓冲对厌恶的评分。在第二项研究中，幽默内容减少了恶心报告。对于两项研究而言，操纵的影响并未因临床特征（如厌恶倾向、污染担忧或抑郁）而有所改变。

结论：

结果表明，积极情绪能够改变令人厌恶的内容的认知评价，从而减轻厌恶感，并可能具有潜在的临床意义以改善治疗方法。

关键词：
厌恶；暴露疗法；幽默；积极情绪；心理病理学。

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