A child and her parents aren’t getting along because she won’t eat crackers or fruit, but is fine with hot dogs. A man rolls his eyes when his spouse insists that he wash his hands after using the kitchen sponge. My son, Colby, screams at his sister when he is grossed out because she is eating a banana while sitting next to him.

These relationship woes have a common culprit: A phenomenon social scientists refer to as disgust sensitivity. It is something I have dealt with personally since I was a young child, and that I have seen many times in my clinical work. While there is a physiological component to the disgust response, here I will focus on what to do when disgust sensitivity impacts your relationships, whether because others are misunderstanding your sensitivity, or you are having trouble relating to theirs.

Disgust is a universal human emotion that is thought to protect us from pathogens, such as those in rotting meat. It might also remind us of our mortality (i.e., that someday we will become rotting meat). Disgust keeps us in line as well by encouraging moral purity.

While most people would be disgusted by things like bodily decay, we also vary in what disgusts us and how easily we get disgusted.

If you are like me, you have gotten through the grossness of everyday life by grinning and bearing it. But disgust sensitivity has led to worse consequences than tension headaches. It has led me to feel misunderstood. For example, as a young adult, I had a part-time job helping people with developmental........

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