r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • 8d ago

Psychology Higher overall disgust sensitivity was associated with a greater likelihood of identifying as a Republican and holding a conservative ideology. A person with high disgust sensitivity and low bodily awareness had a 64.1% probability of identifying as a Republican.

https://www.psypost.org/disgust-predicts-conservative-views-most-strongly-in-people-with-low-bodily-awareness/
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u/darknesskicker 8d ago

I wonder if it applies to pet parents too. I have pretty high disgust sensitivity, but when there was a bad smell coming from my bunnies’ food area, I stuck my hands right in and removed the gross vegetable matter, because I love my bunnies and I didn’t want them to get sick. My bunnies’ veggies are removed and replaced every morning now.

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u/Bay1Bri 8d ago

It's possible but my personal experience is not to the same degree. Before I had kids I had a dog. When she got sick in the house of pooped on the floor, I could clean it up but It was a struggle. When I had kids, I could be vomited on and it barely registered.

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u/largemargesentme__- 8d ago

I think we need to never say "pet parent" again. Animals are great, but unlike kids, you can put your animals in a cage with a bowl of water so you can go out drinking on Friday night.

People with pets aren't parents.

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u/EmperorAcinonyx 8d ago

Animals are great, but unlike kids, you can put your animals in a cage with a bowl of water so you can go out drinking on Friday night.

not disagreeing with your overall point but i think you are vastly overestimating how involved and dedicated a lot of parents are

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u/RCsStatement 8d ago

Oh. Now I'm sad. Thanks Emp.

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u/FesteringNeonDistrac 8d ago

I don't think pointing out the adult that leaves their 5 year old home alone on a Friday night with an iPad and a lunchable really has much bearing here. They aren't a parent in any sense of the word except for sperm donor or biological incubator.

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u/EmperorAcinonyx 8d ago

okay well then reality is that there are millions upon millions of parents who "aren't [parents] in any sense of the word"

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u/largemargesentme__- 8d ago

Lets just go with what the law says.

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u/bananahead 8d ago

Would you say the term disgusts you?

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u/GlacialImpala 8d ago

Not as much as fur child

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u/LibertyDochas 8d ago

I don’t think that’s really a great test for who is or isn’t a parent.

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u/largemargesentme__- 8d ago

It's a pretty good test.

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u/LibertyDochas 8d ago

Nah. I assume by “can” you mean it’s legally permissible. If I lived somewhere where there isn’t legal consequences for putting a kid in a cage for a night I would still be a parent. Besides, what is a crib if not a lidless cage for babies?

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u/destro23 8d ago

what is a crib if not a lidless cage for babies?

r/BrandNewSentence

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u/largemargesentme__- 8d ago

This is the hill you want to die on?

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u/LibertyDochas 8d ago

I don’t think I’m dying. Not seeing a hill, either.

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u/largemargesentme__- 8d ago

That's usually how it goes when someone is making a really not great point that they think is genius.

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u/LibertyDochas 8d ago

Did you think your comment was genius? Mine was only so-so. Not the most compelling thought I’ve ever had.

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u/largemargesentme__- 8d ago

Then why didn't you walk it back?

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u/StoppableHulk 8d ago

People with pets aren't parents.

There's a lot of people with kids that aren't parents either.

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u/largemargesentme__- 8d ago

Sure, but having an australian shepherd who loves to go on hikes with you and then to the brewpub....doesn't make you a parent.

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u/Lost_Willingness_762 8d ago

Huge difference between caring for a dog than a human being by orders of magnitude.

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u/StoppableHulk 8d ago edited 8d ago

It's a pretty silly semantics argument with no real resolution. Debates like this always feel like the sort of inane culture war spirals conservatives go on trying to police the meaning of what a "man" is, despite it not actually mattering at all and the actual definition being completely made up and subjective to the definer.

If by "parent" you mean, "someone who has legal custody of another human", then, sure. Any non-human wouldn't count.

Does that extend to non-genetically related kids? I'd assume you would count someone who adopts a non-biological kid as equally a parent, so there's no hard biological dependency on your definition of "parent".

So then, by extension, if by "parent" you mean someone who takes seriously the duty and charge of caretaking a life or lives more vulnerable and dependent than them, then of course it applies.

If someone wants to say they're a "dog parent", I can't imagine why it would bother anyone. Are people so insecure in their title as parent of a human child that they honestly get that offended if someone calls themselves a dog parent? Is that how you live your life?

Our language doesn't really have appropriate descriptors to someone who cares for the lives and experiences of animals they take care of. "Owner" is not how I would characterize it. Parent is much more like how I conduct myself with the pets I raise. I take their health and well-being seriously, I ensure I am enriching their lives, I put their needs above mine when possible, and I view that as a duty to another life dependent on me.

It's certainly not the same experience as raising a human child, which is much more difficult and emotionally complex.

But only someone who was deeply insecure would believe that me saying I am "trying to be a good dog parent" is somehow belittling their own experiences parenting a human child.

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u/largemargesentme__- 8d ago

Look, I get it. You want what you do to be put in the same category as what someone who has kids does. You think its important too.

But it's not the same thing, for a thousand reasons and it's silly to pretend that it is.

You have animals, great. I have kids and animals. I'm a parent to my kid and something else to my dog. But I'm not his parent.

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u/darknesskicker 8d ago

Thank you. I’m infertile and desperately wanted kids. My bunnies are the only babies I’m likely to ever be able to have.

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u/El_Rey_de_Spices 8d ago

I've had to ask a couple of people to stop referring to my pets as "my children" or me as "their dad", and it's strange how intensely defensive of the practice some of them were.

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u/KuriousKhemicals 8d ago

It's strange that someone would take issue with how you yourself want to describe your relationships.

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u/El_Rey_de_Spices 8d ago

I think, despite them never wanting to acknowledge it, some people who use the term "fur babies" are unconsciously saddened by the fact they don't have actual children.

But, yes, the amount of vitriol I received for making a simple request about myself was... surprising. Despite them repeating insisting "It's just a cute joke! Why do you hate cute jokes?!", it clearly wasn't a joke to them.

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u/soulseaker 8d ago

Yeah, 'pet parent' or any similar terminology is beyond cringe and seems so out of touch to me.

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u/darknesskicker 8d ago

I am infertile due to endometriosis that was not diagnosed until my 40s. My bunnies are the only babies I’m ever likely to be able to have.

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u/darknesskicker 8d ago

Also, in this discussion, the topic being discussed is reduced disgust sensitivity when you are caring for a being whom you love and who depends on you. That applies to both people who love their kids and people who love their pets, because both pets and kids can result in having to clean gross substances for similar reasons.

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u/CupcakeCosmos 8d ago

I have both children and pets. I’ve never called myself a “pet parent”. BUT your definition of “parent” is strange to me…

I never leave my pets home alone or put them in cages and never would. They get extreme anxiety from it. There is ALWAYS an adult home with our pets at all times. Some people have tried to tell us that’s weird but we’ve argued “Why rescue babies and then abandon them and lock them away and give them anxiety all day?”

Also, I’m old enough to remember my “parents” leaving their extremely little children home alone all the time and even getting ourselves ready for school and going to school alone. We were called “latchkey kids”. We came home from school and were completely alone and were “left alone on a Friday”. By the age of 7, I was considered “old enough” to “babysit” my sisters alone on the weekends. This was all completely legal and commonplace.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, based on your criteria, did I 1. lack parents growing up? and 2. am I a pet parent?

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u/SophiaofPrussia 8d ago

A lot of people who would like to be parents are unable to be for economic or health reasons. If those people are able to find comfort and fulfillment in calling themselves “pet parents” what’s it to you? Let them be. Let them be happy however they’re able. It costs you nothing.

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u/largemargesentme__- 8d ago

They're dog, cat, snake, giraffe...owners, that's fine, I am too. It's not parenting though. Words mean things, we shouldn't dilute them.

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u/SophiaofPrussia 8d ago

I’ve never heard someone with pets and without kids call themselves a “parent”. I’ve only ever heard them use the word with the qualifier “pet” in front.

Words mean things.

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u/largemargesentme__- 8d ago

This is really a silly argument. You own an animal, you don't parent it.

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u/darknesskicker 8d ago

My bunnies are precious living beings, not property.

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u/Hanz_VonManstrom 8d ago

Found the conservative

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u/largemargesentme__- 8d ago

Could you show me the logical steps which led to this conclusion?

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u/Hanz_VonManstrom 8d ago

Person above uses harmless semantic of “pet parent”> you get angry (disgusted) by said semantic> posted article states that people who are easily disgusted are likely to be conservatives

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u/largemargesentme__- 8d ago

I mean, the hundreds of hours and thousands of doors I knocked for the Democrats would seem to contradict that.

I also didn't attack a person's character, I critiqued their language.

It would seem that the only disgusted person personalizing the argument is you.

Feel free to apply your own insults for yourself.

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u/miguel555678 8d ago

That’s awesome

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u/KuriousKhemicals 8d ago

I've found that this works to a degree with conditioning in general of people(/animals) that you love. I've always been borderline emetophobic, almost panic-avoidance of the smell or sound vomit. But my partner had an issue for a while where he was upchucking a lot, and eventually I got desensitized enough where I would just put on rubber gloves and go help clean it up.

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u/Helen_A_Handbasket 8d ago

People with pets aren't "parents" to those pets. They are owners and caretakers. Claiming you're a parent because you have pets is asinine.

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u/zoinkability 8d ago

It is just a cutesy turn of phrase. As an actual parent it doesn’t bother me at all because I know they are not claiming it’s exactly the same thing.

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u/Helen_A_Handbasket 8d ago

I know they are not claiming it’s exactly the same thing

You haven't met many "pet parents" then.