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."17To get some sense of the importance of contempt, consider thisextraordinary set of findings from the study of marital interactionby Gottman and his colleagues.The wives whose husbands showedcontempt:• felt flooded• believed that their problems could not be worked out• believed their marital problems were severe• became ill often over the following four yearsThe fact that the husband's disgust or anger expressions did notyield these findings underlines the importance of distinguishingcontempt as a separate emotion (not a distinction recognized by allwho study emotion).Contempt, like all the other emotions we have considered, can varyin strength or intensity, as can disgust.I suspect that the high end is alot more extended in disgust than in contempt, that is, the maximumcontempt does not come near the maximum disgust in its strength.Disgust is clearly a negative emotion; it doesn't feel good, eventhough, as mentioned earlier, we are more fascinated by what is dis-gusting than would be expected for an emotion that doesn't feelgood.Certainly when disgust is intense, there is no question that thesensations are unpleasant, leading to nausea.I am less certain thatcontempt is negative; indeed, I believe it feels good to most peopleto feel contemptuous.We may be embarrassed afterward that we feltthat way, but the feelings we experience during the emotion aremore pleasant than unpleasant.This is not to say that it is an emo-tion that has beneficial effects on others; Gottman's results showthat it does not.But the sensations felt during the experience of con-tempt are not inherently unpleasant.It is hard to specify a functionfor contempt other than signaling the feeling of being superior, ofnot needing to accommodate or engage.It asserts power or status.Those who are uncertain about their status may be more likely tomanifest contempt to assert their superiority over others.Contempt will often be accompanied by anger, a mild form ofanger such as annoyance, although it may be felt without any angerat all.Anger may also alternate with disgust, if the disgusted personis angry about being made to feel disgusted.We do not have words to describe moods related to either disgustor contempt, but that doesn't mean we don't experience suchmoods, only that we don't have an easy way to refer to them.Myhunch is that such moods do exist, but there has been no research ortheorizing on them that I know of.Let us consider now whether there are emotional disorders thatimplicate either disgust or contempt.In an article entitled "Dis-gust—The Forgotten Emotion of Psychiatry," psychiatrists Mary L.Phillips, Carl Senior, Tom Fahy, and A.S.David suggest thatalthough disgust has not been recognized as important in psychiatricdisorders, it does play an important role in a number of such prob-lems.18 A disturbance in disgust is likely to be of import in obsessivecompulsive disorder, as manifested in obsessional thoughts concern-ing dirt and contamination and the need for excessive washing.Ani-mal phobias may be based on disgust, social phobias in which aperson fears being humiliated may involve self-focused disgust, andblood phobias would also involve a disturbance in disgust.Peoplewith eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia, havestrong feelings of disgust toward their own body parts, sexuality,and certain foods.To date, no one has suggested that there are anypsychiatric disorders involving contempt.Recognizing Disgust and Contempt in OurselvesLet us now consider the internal sensations we experience with disgustand then contempt.It should be easy to experience feelings of disgustby thinking of one of the oral incorporation themes or of somemorally repugnant act.Pay attention to the feelings in your throat,the beginning of a slight gagging.The sensations in your upper lipand nostrils are increased, as if your sensitivity to these parts of yourface has been turned up so you feel them more.After relaxing tryagain to experience disgust, but as slightly as possible, again focusingon the sensations in your throat and in your nostrils and upper lip.It is much harder to identify the sensations associated with con-tempt.Think of someone's actions that don't revolt you but that causeyou to feel contemptuous toward him or her.Perhaps it is a personwho jumps place in line, who plagiarizes, who name-drops.Make cer-tain you don't feel any anger or disgust, simply contempt.Notice thatthe tendency to want to raise your chin, as if you are looking downyour nose at someone.Feel the tightening in one corner of your lips.Recognizing Disgust and Contempt in OthersLet's now consider how these two emotions appear on the face.Turnback and look again at the New Guinea man's expression at thebeginning of this chapter.The upper lip is raised as high as it willgo.The lower lip is raised, also, and is protruding slightly
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