The Influence of Perceived Disgust on Students' Motivation and Achievement

There are a wide range of student emotions in academic settings, but apart from emotions such as interest and well-being, disgust is a negative emotion which might be relevant in biology education, for instance, during dissection or when encountering living animals. This paper addresses the issue of situational disgust during a course at the university using living animals and prepared mounts. The course covers a wide range of organisms from protists (e.g. Paramecium) through invertebrates to vertebrates and uses many methods (e.g. microscopy, dissection, and behavioral observations) and specific content (anatomy, structure, and behavior). The dissection of the trout was rated as most disgusting, followed by working with living woodlice, living earthworms, and living snails. The least disgusting lessons were those dealing with microscopy, mammalian skulls, honeybee dance, and bird flight. Based on animals, macro-invertebrates were rated as most disgusting and mammals as least disgusting. Concerning methods, observing through a microscope was perceived as being least disgusting, followed by experiments without animals, then followed by experiments with living animals and, most disgusting, dissection. Disgust was correlated negatively with interest, well-being, and competence but positively with pressure and boredom. Thus, low disgust is related to high interest, well-being, and competence, while higher disgust is related to higher pressure and boredom. The results show a need for measuring situational disgust in addition to survey studies. They also suggest that perceived disgust negatively affects intrinsic motivation. This has implications for biology teaching, because carrying out dissections or experiencing living animals in the classroom may have a detrimental effect on motivation.