The impact of neutralization in imagined non-consensual kiss on mental contamination and OCS symptoms across gender groups: A study with university students

Mental contamination is a term associated with fear of contamination and washing-cleaning compulsions in obsessive compulsive disorder (Rachman, 2004). Mental contamination is an internal feeling of dirtiness without having any direct contact with contaminated object/person. Previous studies have indicated that women who are victims of sexual assault express mental contamination. Therefore; subsequent experimental studies have used the paradigm of the "dirty kiss" in non-clinical samples to evoke feelings of mental contamination This study has two main aims. The first aim is to examine the role of guilt, disgust density and propensity, fear of self and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in mental contamination. The second aim is to evaluate the impact of neutralization behavior on the feeling of mental contamination by comparing the gender influence. Participants were 65 female and 56 male students from Hacettepe University. After completing a series of scale forms, the participants filled in the mental contamination form to determine the first level of mental contamination and then listened to the imaginary scenario. After the scenario, the mental contamination form was completed again and then they were assigned to one of the three neutralization groups, which were randomized as physical washing, mental washing and control group. After the neutralization action, the form was filled again and finally filled for the last time after five minutes break. Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to examine mental contamination related factors. The results indicated that fear of self, guilt, disgust sensitivity and propensity, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms significantly predicted the degree of mental contamination. In order to examine the impact of neutralization behavior on the feeling of mental contamination between gender groups with time, a 4 (time: Time1, Time2, Time3, Time4) x 2 (gender: Women, Men) x 3 (Neutralization Conditions: Physical washing, Imagined washing, Control) design repeated measures MANOVA was conducted. The results showed that the level of mental contamination mentioned after the scenario was highest for all groups and then started to decrease and women felt more mental contamination than men in Time 2, Time 3 and Time 4. After the neutralization behavior, physical washing and mental washing groups reported less mental contamination than the control group. However, after five minutes delay time, the mental contamination level was equalized in all groups.