Information Form
Researcher: Zaynah Ahmed (2834905A@student.gla.ac.uk), Researcher: Ting Chang (2791560C@student.gla.ac.uk) Project Supervisor: Dr Eugene Dawydiak (eugene.dawydiak@glasgow.ac.uk),
Invitation: You are being invited to take part in an online research study. Before you decide to take part, it is important for you to understand why the research is being done and what it will involve. Please take time to read the following information carefully
What is the purpose of the study? The purpose of this study is to investigate the psychological factors that may influence reactions to trypophobia—a phenomenon characterised by discomfort or disgust in response to clusters of holes, bumps, or repetitive patterns. Specifically, the study examines how empathy, disgust sensitivity (pathogen, moral, and sexual disgust), perceived vulnerability to disease (PVD; how one feels being susceptible to a disease) , and Skin Disease Sensitivity (SDS; a aversion caused by skin disease symptoms such as cracked, peeling, flaking skin) relate to trypophobic reactions. By assessing these variables using validated measures such as the Trypophobia Questionnaire (TQ), the study aims to determine whether heightened perceived vulnerability to disease and sensitivity to skin conditions predict greater trypophobia severity.
Do I have to take part? No, it is up to you to decide whether or not to take part. If you do decide to take part, you will be asked to provide consent online. If you do decide to take part, you are still free to withdraw at any time and without giving a reason. You must be aged 18 years and over to participate.
Will my taking part of the study be kept confidential? Yes, no personally identifying information will be gathered during the survey and as such your taking part in this study will be entirely confidential. Because we won’t be able to identify your answers, there is no chance of retracting your data once you click the last submit button (the final page of the study provides an alert to this). If you wish to withdraw from the study, you must discontinue by closing the browser before completing the study.
What will participation involve? In this study, you will complete a series of questionnaires designed to assess various emotional and psychological responses. The order in which these questionnaires are presented will be randomized. The questionnaires includes, but not in no particular order of; a the Three Domain Disgust Sensitivity Scale (TDDS) which assess your response of disgust against pathogen, moral and sexual domains; Perceived Vulnerability to Disease (PVD) scale, which measures general sensitivities to perceived disease threats through its Germ Aversion and Perceived Infectability; Skin Disease Sensitivity (SDS) questionnaire which asks you to rate a single statement designed against SDS; a Interpersonal Reactivity Index, which measures your emotional reactions and empathy toward others. After the randomized set, you will finally be asked to complete the Trypophobia Questionnaire, a series of trypophobia-inducing images (such as clusters of holes) and asked to rate your emotional and physical responses to 15 statements correlated to the pictures.
The entire study will be conducted online, ensuring anonymity, and is expected to take approximately 15–20 minutes to complete. You may withdraw from the study at any time, without needing to provide a reason by simply closing your browser. We greatly value your participation and hope you find the experience meaningful. Your responses and insights are important to our research.
What are the possible disadvantages and risks of taking part in the study? No specific risks are anticipated; however, some individuals may feel discomfort when viewing trypophobic images, responding to questions related to disgust sensitivity, rating certain vulnerabilities to disease scenarios, or reflecting on scenarios in the empathy questionnaire. If you believe these topics may evoke negative thoughts or emotions, please feel free to discontinue your participation at any time.
What will happen to the results of the research study? Your data is entirely anonymous and unidentifiable and will be gathered using GDPR compliant software and stored on a secure server. Data, without any personal identifying information, may be made publicly available in an online database for re-analysis by other researchers. Anonymous results of this study will be presented in student research reports and may also be presented at conferences or published in journals, books, and the popular media. If you would like a summary of the results, this can be made available to you upon request from the researchers. 2 All data and results will be anonymous, kept confidential, and securely stored at all times. All data collected will be kept on a password protected computer with an encrypted hard drive for the duration of the project. This research is being conducted as part of a student research project. This research is conducted in accordance with the British Psychological Society's Code of Ethics and Conduct.
Who can I contact if I want more information? If you would like more information on the study, please contact the following
Researchers: Ting Chang (2791560C@student.gla.ac.uk) Zaynah Ahmed (2834905A@student.gla.ac.uk)
Project supervisors: Dr Eugene Dawydiak (eugene.dawydiak@glasgow.ac.uk)
Complaints If you wish to raise a complaint on how we have handled your personal data, you can contact the University Data Protection Officer who will investigate the matter. Our Data Protection Officer can be contacted at dataprotectionofficer@glasgow.ac.uk. If you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are not processing your personal data in accordance with the law, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) https://www.ico.org.uk.
Please login or register if you do not yet have an account.