“The Fathers have eaten Sour Grapes, and the Children’s Teeth are set on Edge”: Differentiating the Emotional Experiences of Grima and Disgust

Citation
Schweiger Gallo, I., Rodríguez Monter, M., Álvaro-Estramiana, J. L., Durán, J. I., & Fernández-Dols, J.-M. (2018). “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge”: Differentiating the emotional experiences of grima and disgust. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 21. e45. Doi:10.1017/sjp.2018.4
Abstract
The Spanish term grima refers to the aversive emotional experience typically evoked when one hears, for example, a scratch upon a chalkboard. Whereas Spanish speakers can distinguish between the concepts of grima and disgust, English and German speakers lack a specific word for this experience and typically label grima as disgust. In the present research, we tested the degree of differentiation between the two aversive experiences in Spanish speakers. Study 1 addressed whether Spanish speakers apply spontaneously the term grima rather than disgust to grima-eliciting experiences. Study 2 systematically addressed the constitutive features of both grima and disgust by mapping their internal structures. Results showed that the noise of a chulk on a blackboard and scraping fingernails on a blackboard, along with the physical manifestation of goose bumps, were the most typical features of the category. Whereas both grima and disgust were characterized as unpleasant sensations, t(193) = 1.21, ns, they differed with respect to their phys iological signatures (e.g., producing shivers was characteristic of grima, as compared to disgust, t(194) = 12.02, p = .001, d = 1.72) and elicitors (e.g., a fractured bone was a characteristic elicitor of grima; t(193) = 5.78, p = .001, d = .83, whereas pederasts and pedophiles were the most characteristic elicitor of disgust, t(193) = 8.46, p = .001, d = 1.21). Thus, both grima and disgust are conceptually different experiences, whose shared features hold different degrees of typicality. The present research suggests that grima and disgust are two distinct emotion concepts.
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