Yu Pengfei, Yu Li, Li Yuting, Qian Cheng, Hu Jia, Zhu Weiyi, Liu Fang, Wang Qi
School of Mental Health, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Xinchang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Xinchang, Zhejiang, China.
Front Psychol. 2024 Dec 16;15:1467608. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1467608. eCollection 2024.
Trypophobia refers to the visual discomfort (e.g., disgust or anxiety) experienced by some people when viewing clusters of bumps or holes. The spectral profile framework suggests that the spectral components of clustered patterns induces trypophobia. In contrast, the cognitive framework speculates that cognitive appraisal of dangerous objects (e.g., ectoparasites) causes trypophobia. A background effect (e.g., more disgust toward trypophobic patterns on the skin than on a desk) seems to support the cognitive framework. However, there is no study providing objective evidence for that effect and verifying these frameworks at the same time. This study aims to address that limitation by psychometric and eye-tracking experiments.
We recruited 183 participants from colleges. Initially, participants finished a personality questionnaire. The cohort then completed an eye-tracking experiment which showed the trypophobic pattern of lotus seed on three categories of background images (objects, animals and human bodies). Finally, participants rated the image's disgust and arousal levels using a self-assessment rating scale. Meanwhile, we compared all images' luminosity and power spectra.
Trypophobic images with the human body or animal backgrounds induced a higher level of disgust and arousal than those with the object backgrounds. Participants gazed faster and dwelled longer at the trypophobic patterns on human body images than on object or animal images. Furthermore, trypophobic images with human body or animal backgrounds induced more substantial pupil dilation than those upon object backgrounds. No significant difference was detected between the power of trypophobic images with human body backgrounds and objects backgrounds. As the trypophobic images with human body backgrounds induced significant emotional or visual responses compared to those with inanimate object backgrounds. Such inconsistent results imply that the differential emotional or visual responses to trypophobic images are probably not induced by the difference in power spectra. Finally, the disgust/arousal level toward trypophobic images did not correlate with personality traits.
These results supported the background effect of trypophobia, namely, trypophobic images with animal or human body backgrounds induce more severe disgust and cause more arousal than those with object backgrounds. Our results support the cognitive, but not spectral profile, framework of trypophobia.
密集恐惧症是指一些人在看到密集的肿块或孔洞时所体验到的视觉不适（如厌恶或焦虑）。光谱特征框架表明，密集图案的光谱成分会诱发密集恐惧症。相比之下，认知框架推测对危险物体（如体外寄生虫）的认知评估会导致密集恐惧症。一种背景效应（例如，对皮肤上的密集恐惧症图案比对桌子上的更厌恶）似乎支持认知框架。然而，尚无研究为该效应提供客观证据并同时验证这些框架。本研究旨在通过心理测量和眼动追踪实验来解决这一局限性。
我们从高校招募了183名参与者。最初，参与者完成一份人格问卷。然后该队列完成一项眼动追踪实验，实验展示了莲子的密集恐惧症图案在三类背景图像（物体、动物和人体）上的情况。最后，参与者使用自我评估量表对图像的厌恶和唤醒水平进行评分。同时，我们比较了所有图像的亮度和功率谱。
以人体或动物为背景的密集恐惧症图像比以物体为背景的图像诱发更高水平的厌恶和唤醒。参与者注视人体图像上的密集恐惧症图案比注视物体或动物图像上的图案更快且停留时间更长。此外，以人体或动物为背景的密集恐惧症图像比以物体为背景的图像诱发更明显的瞳孔扩张。以人体为背景的密集恐惧症图像和以物体为背景的图像在功率上未检测到显著差异。由于与无生命物体背景的图像相比，以人体为背景的密集恐惧症图像诱发了显著的情绪或视觉反应。这种不一致的结果意味着对密集恐惧症图像的不同情绪或视觉反应可能不是由功率谱的差异引起的。最后，对密集恐惧症图像的厌恶/唤醒水平与人格特质无关。
这些结果支持密集恐惧症的背景效应，即，以动物或人体为背景的密集恐惧症图像比以物体为背景的图像诱发更强烈的厌恶并引起更高的唤醒。我们的结果支持密集恐惧症的认知框架，而非光谱特征框架。
