Prejudice is an emotion-specific phenomenon that is influenced by a variety of predictors. In this paper, we looked at interoceptive sensitivity (IS) as a potential determinant of prejudice through...Show morePrejudice is an emotion-specific phenomenon that is influenced by a variety of predictors. In this paper, we looked at interoceptive sensitivity (IS) as a potential determinant of prejudice through emotional sensitivity, especially disgust. We had five hypotheses including the last one being exploratory. (1) Higher IS would lead to higher prejudice. (2) Greater IS would lead to higher disgust sensitivity (DS). (3) Greater DS would lead to higher prejudice. (4) Greater IS would lead to increased prejudice through increased DS. (5) Higher IS would lead to increased prejudice through different emotional sensitives (fear, anger, disgust). IS was measured using a heartbeat detection task and other variables were measured using questionnaires. Regression analysis was used to analyze the results. As part of the exploratory analysis, principal component analysis was used to identify potential prejudice subscales. Findings showed all the hypotheses to be insignificant. The key finding of exploratory analysis is that IS was not significantly related to any of the emotion specific prejudice measures. Main limitations were the sample size and its characteristics. In the future, complex emotions could be examined within this analysis and disgust could be manipulated to see if prejudice towards disgust eliciting groups change.Show less
