@article{ref1,
title="Responsibility/threat overestimation moderates the relationship between contamination-based disgust and obsessive-compulsive concerns about sexual orientation",
journal="Archives of sexual behavior",
year="2018",
author="Ching, Terence H. W. and Williams, Monnica T. and Siev, Jedidiah and Olatunji, Bunmi O.",
volume="47",
number="4",
pages="1109-1117",
abstract="Disgust has been shown to perform a &quot;disease-avoidance&quot; function in contamination fears. However, no studies have examined the relevance of disgust to obsessive-compulsive (OC) concerns about sexual orientation (e.g., fear of one's sexual orientation transforming against one's will, and compulsive avoidance of same-sex and/or gay or lesbian individuals to prevent that from happening). Therefore, we investigated whether the specific domain of contamination-based disgust (i.e., evoked by the perceived threat of transmission of essences between individuals) predicted OC concerns about sexual orientation, and whether this effect was moderated/amplified by obsessive beliefs, in evaluation of a &quot;sexual orientation transformation-avoidance&quot; function. We recruited 283 self-identified heterosexual college students (152 females, 131 males; mean age = 20.88 years, SD = 3.19) who completed three measures assessing disgust, obsessive beliefs, and OC concerns about sexual orientation. <br><br>RESULTS showed that contamination-based disgust (β = .17), responsibility/threat overestimation beliefs (β = .15), and their interaction (β = .17) each uniquely predicted OC concerns about sexual orientation, ts = 2.22, 2.50, and 2.90, ps < .05. Post hoc probing indicated that high contamination-based disgust accompanied by strong responsibility/threat overestimation beliefs predicted more severe OC concerns about sexual orientation, β = .48, t = 3.24, p < .001. The present study, therefore, provided preliminary evidence for a &quot;sexual orientation transformation-avoidance&quot; process underlying OC concerns about sexual orientation in heterosexual college students, which is facilitated by contamination-based disgust, and exacerbated by responsibility/threat overestimation beliefs. Treatment for OC concerns about sexual orientation should target such beliefs.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0004-0002",
doi="10.1007/s10508-018-1165-z",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10508-018-1165-z"
}