Normal Men’s Physiological Response to Seeing Two Men Kissing: Same as Seeing Rotting Flesh and Maggots

IN HETEROSEXUAL men, pictures of rotting flesh, maggots and spoiled food induce the same physiological stress response as pictures of two men kissing each other. That is the surprising finding that was published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Psychology & Sexuality.

“We originally were interested in understanding the health effects of same-sex vs. mixed-sex public displays of affection for the couples in the relationship,” explained the study’s corresponding author, Karen L. Blair of St. Francis Xavier University.

“However, one of the factors likely to influence how individuals experience PDAs is the reaction that other people have to witnessing PDAs. Consequently, we decided to begin the research by examining whether or not heterosexuals have negative responses to witnessing same-sex PDAs; in particular, we began by examining heterosexual male responses to male same-sex public displays of affection.”

“Participants watched a series of slideshows: male couples kissing, male couples holding hands, mixed-sex couples kissing, mixed-sex couples holding hands, boring images (e.g., paper clips) and disgusting images (maggots),” Blair explained. “In between slide shows, we asked participants questions about their responses to the photos (not yet published) and we also collected saliva samples in order to assess salivary alpha-amylase in response to each slide show (the current paper).”

Measuring levels of salivary alpha-amylase, a digestive enzyme that is associated with stress and is especially responsive to disgust, allowed the researchers to examine the men’s physiological reaction to the photos. The study was based on results from 120 heterosexual men (aged 18 to 45).

“In comparing the salivary alpha-amylase responses of participants to the various slideshows, we found that participants had higher salivary alpha-amylase responses to the images of two men kissing and the disgusting images. In both cases, these responses were significantly different than the responses they had to the neutral stimuli.”

However, Blair warned it was difficult to interpret the finding at this stage.

“It is difficult to specifically state what this means. It could mean that participants found the images of male same-sex couples kissing to be equally disgusting as the disgusting images. It could mean that they had an anxiety response to the male couples kissing and a disgust response to the disgusting images, but that physiologically, we could not tell the difference between these two emotions.”

Previous research has found a strong link between dislike of sexual perversion and the emotion of disgust. For instance, a 2008 study found that individuals who are more easily disgusted are also more likely to have unfavorable views of sex perverts.

But it was clear that the physiological reactions in the present study could not be explained by supposed “sexual prejudices” alone.

“What is most important to note is that the responses did not differ as a function of self-reported levels of prejudice or self-reported levels of aggression towards gay men,” Blair explained. “In other words, it was not our highly prejudiced individuals who were experiencing a heightened physiological response to the images of same-sex couples kissing, it was everyone in the sample, even those with very low levels of prejudice.”

The study is the first of its kind, and the researchers hope that future research will strengthen their findings. There are also some questions that additional research could help answer.

Blair said: “Each iteration of the study is quite expensive though, due to the collection of physiological data, so it will take some time and additional funding before we can run each of the iterations that we would like to run.”

It’s interesting that the research was partially funded by a pro-pervert organization founded by a Jew: “This research was largely funded through a crowdfunding campaign on Experiment.com (http://www.drkarenblair.com/pdasponsors/), and later by the American Institute of Bisexuality. More information can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/KLBResearch.”

The study, “What do two men kissing and a bucket of maggots have in common? Heterosexual men’s indistinguishable salivary α-amylase responses to photos of two men kissing and disgusting images,” was also co-authored by Breanna Maureen and Rhea Ashley Hoskin.

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Source: PsyPost and National Vanguard correspondents