We tested the hypothesis that we humans feel disgust when reminded of our animal nature. Some disgusting things may remind us of our animal nature, but they are not disgusting because they do so

Kollareth, D., & Russell, J. A. (2018). Even unpleasant reminders that you are an animal need not disgust you. Emotion, 18(2), 304-312. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/emo0000365

Abstract: Three studies (Ns = 200, 400, 400) tested the hypothesis that we humans feel disgust when reminded of our animal nature. Participants verbally rated their disgust reaction to pictures of humans engaged in various unpleasant actions. For pictures of events that present danger or suffering, accompanied by an explicit and vivid reminder that animals face the same situation, participants reported fear and sadness rather than disgust. For pictures of events that present a norm violation, an explicit animal reminder (relative to a human picture alone) did not lead to a consequent increment in disgust. For pictures of events that present a physically disgusting contamination, an explicit animal reminder (relative to a human picture alone) led to a decrement in disgust. Thus, not all unpleasant animal reminders are disgusting. Some disgusting things may remind us of our animal nature, but they are not disgusting because they do so.

h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf

Retaliation on a voodoo doll symbolizing an abusive supervisor restores justice

Righting a wrong: Retaliation on a voodoo doll symbolizing an abusive supervisor restores justice. Lindie H.Liang et al. The Leadership Quarterly, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2018.01.004

Abstract: When a subordinate receives abusive treatment from a supervisor, a natural response is to retaliate against the supervisor. Although retaliation is dysfunctional and should be discouraged, we examine the potential functional role retaliation plays in terms of alleviating the negative consequences of abusive supervision on subordinate justice perceptions. Based on the notion that retaliation following mistreatment can restore justice for victims, we propose a model whereby retaliation following abusive supervision alleviates the negative effect of abusive supervision on subordinate justice perceptions. In two experimental studies (Study 1 and 2), whereby we manipulated abusive supervision and subordinate symbolic retaliation—in particular, harming a voodoo doll that represents the abusive supervisor—we found general support for our predictions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.