Yoel Inbar is a social psychologist at University of Toronto. He studies the feeling of disgust and how it shapes people’s moral judgments. We talk about how disgust is associated with certain opinions, and why moral emotions can make people hold onto negative beliefs about genetically modified crops (even when the science supports their safety and usefulness).
Yoel is also co-host of another psychology podcast, Two Psychologists, Four Beers.
Things we mention in the episode:
- The relationship between “disgust sensitivity” and political beliefs (Inbar, Pizarro, & Bloom, 2008)
- The “behavioral immune system” (see this article by Schaller)
- Disgusting smells and attitudes toward gay men (Inbar, Pizarro, & Bloom, 2012)
- Reasons to be skeptical that disgust amplifies moral judgments (Landy & Goodwin, 2015)
- Facial expressions of disgust during moral judgments (Chapman et al., 2009)
- Public opinions of genetically modified food (check out Scott, Inbar, et al., 2018)
- Evaluating evidence in a way that fits your current opinion (Lord, Ross, & Lepper, 1979)
