#102 Valerie Curtis: Disgust and Hygiene Behavior
Dr. Valerie Curtis is Director of the Environmental Health Group, a multidisciplinary group researching hygiene, sanitation and water (WASH), at the London School Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She is trained in engineering, epidemiology and anthropology and studies human behavior from an evolutionary perspective. She’s also the author of the book Don’t Look, Don’t Touch, Don’t Eat: The Science Behind Revulsion.
In this episode, we talk about the emotion of disgust, and how it might have evolved. How it manifests in us and also other animals, in the form of avoidance behavior. Also, how disgust eventually leads us to avoid people that don’t belong to our social group, and how it might be behind some moral norms related to purity and pollution. Finally, we get to talk about how we can apply this knowledge to acquire better hygiene habits, and the influence of the environment settings.
Time Links:
What is disgust, and how it works
Disgust and avoidance behavior
Disgust and moral purity
How to change hygiene habits
Behavior settings, and the Behavior Centred Design
How the environment influences behavior
Follow Dr. Curtis’ work!
Follow Dr. Curtis’ work:
Faculty page: https://tinyurl.com/ybq9snxq
Book Don’t Look, Don’t Touch, Don’t Eat: https://tinyurl.com/y8lmnn6k
Twitter handle: @val23curtis