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Abstract
Appeals to disgust may become an important tool in health communication messaging. There is little empirical support for measures of induced disgust in the communication literature. The aim of the present analysis was to evaluate an English-language version of the German State Disgust Scale (the Ekel-State-Fragebogen) as a candidate measure for state disgust. A key advantage of this scale is that it measures both subjective feeling and motor expression of disgust. Data from an initial pilot test of the German State Disgust Scale indicate that the measure demonstrates internal reliability as well as convergent, divergent (from fear and anger), and discriminant validity. The German State Disgust Scale is advocated as a potential measure for assessing induced state disgust.
Notes
The disgust index asks participants to rate, on a 1 (none of this feeling) to 7 (a great deal of this feeling) scale, how sickened, repulsed, and grossed out a message made them feel.
The fear index asks participants to rate, on a 1 (none of this feeling) to 7 (a great deal of this feeling) scale, how scared, fearful, and frightened a message made them feel.
The anger index asks participants to rate, on a 1 (none of this feeling) to 7 (a great deal of this feeling) scale, how irritated, aggravated, annoyed, and angry a message made them feel.
They were “I felt confused,” “I did not want to think of anything else,” and “I felt unable to breathe.”
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Benjamin R. Bates
Benjamin R. Bates (PhD, University of Georgia, 2003) is the Barbara Geralds Schoonover Professor of Health Communication.
Amy E. Chadwick
Amy E. Chadwick (PhD, Pennsylvania State University, 2010) is an assistant professor in the School of Communication Studies at Ohio University.