The Realm of Disgust in Sexual Behaviour

Sex and sexual behaviour are a core part of life; aside from reproduction, sex can be pleasurable, healthy, and beneficial for developing intimacy. Alongside these desirable features, however, sex also has the clear downside of increasing the chances for contracting infectious diseases. The inherent contagious nature of sexual (by)products and sexual behaviour may help explain why sexual stimuli (e.g., sweat, saliva, and the ejaculate) may also be considered potent disgust elicitors across cultures (Rozin, et al., Journal of Research in Personality 29:318–340, 1995). In this chapter, we describe how sexual behaviours and some sex stimuli may elicit disgust responses and consequently hinder sexual arousal; whereas other sex stimuli, generally those associated with sexual appeal, may generate sexual arousal and weaken the disgust response to contamination-relevant features of sex stimuli and sexual behaviours. We also explore the pathways relevant to understanding how people engage in sexual activity, and how core sex stimuli may signal contagion. Additionally, we explore novel interventions that can be used to accentuate sexual arousal and weaken sexual disgust, as well as to weaken sexual arousal when it is undesired. These disgust-based interventions are outlined to provide a contemporary perspective about their potential application in the context of human sexual expression.