Why Are Women More Easily Disgusted Than Men?

Sex Differences in Disgust: Why Are Women More Easily Disgusted Than Men? Laith Al-Shawaf, David M.G. Lewis, David M. Buss. Emotion Review, https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073917709940

Abstract: Women have consistently higher levels of disgust than men. This sex difference is substantial in magnitude, highly replicable, emerges with diverse assessment methods, and affects a wide array of outcomes—including job selection, mate choice, food aversions, and psychological disorders. Despite the importance of this far-reaching sex difference, sound theoretical explanations have lagged behind the empirical discoveries. In this article, we focus on the evolutionary-functional level of analysis, outlining hypotheses capable of explaining why women have higher levels of disgust than men. We present four hypotheses for sexual disgust and six for pathogen disgust, along with testable predictions. Discussion focuses on additional new hypotheses and on future research capable of adjudicating among these competing, but not mutually exclusive, hypotheses.

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In sum, there are at least four theoretically plausible, non-mutually-exclusive factors driving the evolution of women's heightened sexual disgust relative to men: (a) greater minimum obligatory parental investment (the parental investment hypothesis), (b) higher likelihood and greater costs of contracting STIs (the sexually transmitted infections hypothesis), (c) defense against rape and sexual coercion (the rape avoidance hypothesis). and (d) sex differences in reputational damage as a consequence of promiscuous or deviant sexual behavior (the reputational damage hypothesis).

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In summary, we have proposed six hypotheses for the evolution of elevated female pathogen disgust: (a) reduced risk-taking among women because female vehicles are more critical than male vehicles to the long-term propagation of the genes residing in their offspring's bodies; (b) greater female likelihood of directly transmitting infections to offspring; (c) a greater role for women in keeping children away from pathogens and teaching them effective disease-avoidance principles; (d) a greater role for ancestral women in food cleaning and food preparation; (e) lower levels of disgust among men in order to convey immune strength and facilitate short-term mating; and (f) higher male thresholds for disgust related to blood, injury, and death because of selective pressures related to hunting and warfare.