The Dutch Three-Domain Disgust Scale (TDDS): structural validity, measurement invariance, and nomological associations across two large samples

This research provides a comprehensive validation of the Dutch Three-Domain Disgust Scale (TDDS) across two large samples (Study 1: n = 991; Study 2: n = 1806). Confirmatory factor analyses supported the theorized three-factor structure, pathogen, sexual, and moral disgust, with domain-specific loadings and acceptable global fit. Measurement invariance across sex was fully supported in Study 2 and approximately supported in Study 1, indicating largely comparable measurement across men and women. Women showed higher latent levels of sexual disgust, whereas sex differences in pathogen and moral disgust were smaller and sample-dependent. Construct validity was supported through theoretically coherent associations: sexual disgust was robustly linked to pair bonding; moral disgust was substantially negatively associated with Low Morality; and pathogen disgust showed selective associations, including consistent positive links with Low Morality and weaker, sample-dependent relations with Outgroup Avoidance. Criterion validity was partly supported: predictors of Low Morality were stable across studies, whereas predictions of Outgroup Avoidance were less consistent. Overall, the Dutch TDDS emerges as a reliable and valid instrument capturing domain-specific disgust sensitivity relevant to moral, social, and intergroup processes in Dutch-speaking populations.