Common Triggers
- →Offensive smells or tastes
- →Witnessing cruelty or abuse
- →Contaminated objects or environments
- →Moral violations or social taboos
- →Graphic injuries or violence in media
- →Inharmonious sounds (for musically sensitive individuals)
Physical Sensations
- •Nausea
- •Wrinkled nose
- •Raised eyebrows
- •Averted gaze
- •Stomach discomfort
- •Feeling of revulsion
Plutchik's Emotion Wheel
Working with This Emotion
Recognize
Disgust can be recognized by physical sensations like nausea, a wrinkled nose, and a feeling of revulsion. Facial expressions include a curled upper lip, raised eyebrows, and averted gaze. Behaviorally, it often leads to avoidance or rejection of the source.
Understand
Common causes of disgust include offensive smells, tastes, or sights, witnessing cruelty or abuse, and encountering contaminated objects. It can also be triggered by moral violations or social taboos.
Label
To label disgust precisely, focus on the specific feeling of revulsion or strong disapproval. Distinguish it from anger, which is more about frustration and aggression, and from contempt, which involves a sense of superiority.
Express
Healthy ways to express disgust include communicating your feelings clearly without judgment, setting boundaries, and taking steps to remove yourself from the source if possible. It’s important to avoid projecting disgust onto others in a harmful way.
Regulate
Strategies to regulate disgust include deep breathing exercises, mindfulness meditation, and cognitive reframing. Practicing gratitude for positive aspects of your environment can also help shift your focus away from negative triggers.
Co-occurring Emotions
Emotions that frequently appear alongside disgust, based on the NRC Emotion Lexicon.
Associated Words
Words associated with disgust from the NRC Emotion Lexicon.
Using Inner
Using Inner, you can track patterns in when and why disgust arises. Pay attention to physical sensations like nausea or a wrinkled nose, and note the context. Journaling about these moments can help you understand triggers and develop healthier responses, such as deep breathing or mindfulness exercises.
Try Inner for FreeSources & References
- —RULER Framework (Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence)
- —Plutchik's Wheel of Emotions
- —Geneva Emotion Wheel
- —Lisa Feldman Barrett - How Emotions Are Made
Related Content
Revulsion
A sense of disgust and loathing.
Contempt
The feeling that a person or thing is worthless or beneath consideration.
Projection
Attributing one's own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or motives to another person.
The Shadow
The unconscious aspect of personality containing rejected or repressed qualities.
Snake
A serpent, often representing transformation, healing, or hidden fears.