Emotional and visual responses to trypophobic images with object, animal, or human body backgrounds: an eye-tracking study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

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.

Methods

We recruited 183 participants f

SUBMITTER: Yu P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11684096 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature