Mental contamination: The effects of religiosity

•Female undergraduate students were divided into low and high religiosity groups.•All participants listened to a consensual or non-consensual kiss scenario.•Feelings of mental contamination and related negative emotions were evoked.•Highly religious Muslims reported the greatest feelings of mental contamination.•Religiosity increased urges to wash and actual washing, due to mental contamination.

Background and objectivesMental contamination, which occurs in the absence of contact with a contaminant, has a moral element. Previous studies evoked feelings of mental contamination via listening to a scenario, which described a non-consensual kiss. Since mental contamination has a moral element, we tested the effects of the level of religiosity on feelings of mental contamination and related variables in an experimental design.MethodsFemale undergraduates of high religiosity (n = 48) and low religiosity (n = 44) were randomly assigned to listen to one of two audio recordings involving a consensual or non-consensual kiss from a man described as moral.ResultsMental contamination feelings were evoked successfully in both groups. Effects of scenario condition and religiosity level were seen in mental contamination and related negative feelings. Participants who imagined a non-consensual kiss reported greatest feelings of mental contamination, and internal and external negative feelings. More importantly, high religiosity resulted in greater feelings of mental contamination, internal negative feelings, as well as urges to wash and actual washing behaviors.LimitationsThe current study was conducted on non-clinical Muslim females. This limits the generalization of the findings to the wider population.ConclusionsMental contamination and related feelings can be seen in different forms at different levels of religiosity.