Examine+the+Evolutionary+Explanation+of+Emotions

= Examine t﻿he Evolutionary Explanation of Emotions  =

According to evolutionary psychology, advantages of certain organisms are passed down through a process called ‘natural selection’, which was proven by Charles Darwin. Studies of evolutionary psychology try to prove how certain human behaviors are developed of the certain species over time. According to evolutionary psychologists, such as Dan Fesssler, natural selection can only select for mechanisms, not behavior, that leads to certain behavior.

Dan Fessler carried out an evolutionary research on disgust in 2006. The research aimed to prove that emotion of disgust allowed our ancestors to survive long enough to produce offspring. The theory of the psychology was that the nausea response helps to compensate for the suppressed immune system. In order to prove the theory, the research was set, which was for 496 healthy women in their first trimester of pregnancy between 18 and 50 years. Each of the woman were asked to do 32 potentially stomach-turning scenarios, such as walking on the bare foot and stepping on an earthworm. Then, the researchers asked a series of questions and, the women were asked to rank of level of disgust.

According to the research, as a term of disgust sensitivity, scores of women in the first trimester rather than the second and third trimesters were higher. From the research, it was found that the responses were only related to food when the study for morning sickness was controlled.

Fessler also mentioned about the first trimester of pregnant women and many diseases, which were very risky and caused by food. However, because our ancestors, especially pregnant women, in the past could not select what they should eat and should not eat, natural selection helped the pregnant women to prevent diseases by providing ability to be picky about what they eat in the first trimester by decreasing their appetite. In conclusion, the findings of Dan Fessler shows that women in the first trimester has a higher level of disgust sensitivity than women in the second or third trimester. Also, it was shown that level of the disgust was often related to food. As a result, we can see level of disgust, which is ability to defense, decreases when levels of risks diminish.