Perceived disgust and personal experiences are associated with acceptance of dissections in schools

Abstract

Animal dissections are essential parts of anatomy/zoology courses, but their effectiveness is influenced by student attitudes and emotions. Here we examined attitudes toward dissections in 397 prospective biology teachers enrolling two Slovak universities. Perceived disgust of dissections negatively correlated with other attitudes toward dissections domains and previous experiences with dissections correlated positively with attitudes toward dissections. Reported experiences with real and virtual dissections in Slovak elementary and high schools were rare. Students who owned animal(s) at home had less positive attitudes toward dissections than non-animal owners. Our research support an idea that prior experiences with dissections and low perceived disgust correlate with positive attitudes toward dissections. Special attention should be dedicated to females and to animal owners, because positive attitudes toward animals may be in conflict with supportive attitudes towards dissections. © 2013 by iSER.