The Mediational Roles of Law of Contagion and Threat Estimations in the Relation Between Disgust and Contamination-based OCD Symptoms

Abstract

Objectives: The law of contagion is one of the sympathetic of magic principles and is a cognitive distortion related to disgust. To explain how disgust can lead to contamination Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) symptoms, this study assumes that the emotion of disgust can activate the law of contagion, which in turn may motivate threat estimations that finally results in OCD symptoms. Methods: This study has a correlational research design. Participants were 495 students (59% women) from Olum Tahghighat University that recruited through convenience sampling. All the participants completed all the questionnaires in the same order: Threat estimation scenarios, the Vancouver Obsessional Compulsive Inventory Contamination Scale (VOCI-C), negative-spiritual contagion subscale from Contagion Sensitivity Scale (CSS), and core disgust subscale from Disgust Scale (DS). This model was examined through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results: The finding revealed that the proposed model had a good fit based on reported indices: χ2, CMIN/DF, GFI, CFI, AGFI, RMSEA. Conclusion: There are mediational roles for the law of contagion and threat estimations in the relation between disgust and OCD symptoms. The proposed psychopathological model can help to promote the disgust theory in OCD and may have implications for cognitive behavioral therapy.