The role of disgust in faintness elicited by blood and injection stimuli.

To examine the role of disgust in blood-injection fear and faintness, 79 individuals high and low in disgust and distressed either more by blood or injections were exposed to both a blood slide and a needle slide. Self-reported faintness and systolic and diastolic blood pressure were measured. High disgust individuals reported more faintness to both slides, but those who were more distressed by blood reported more faintness to the blood slide and those who were more distressed by needles reported more fear to the needle slide. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure assessments manifested a diphasic response. The diphasic response pattern was most evident among the high disgust subjects, who were more distressed by blood than injections. Results are discussed in terms of the relevance of disgust in the etiology of fear and faintness in blood-injury phobia.