The behavioural immune system and pandemic psychology: the evolved psychology of disease-avoidance and its implications for attitudes, behaviour, and public health during epidemic outbreaks

Schaller, Mark; Murray, Damian R.; Hofer, Marlise K.

doi:10.1080/10463283.2021.1988404

Cited by 34 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 151 publications

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“…considering any pandemic as a direct trigger for the BIS (see Ackerman et al, 2021), recent research suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic had noticeable effects on BIS-related factors (Schaller et al, 2021;Szymkow et al, 2021). 3.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 2. Although, we assume that exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic threat elicits emotions, we are well aware that the BIS has deep evolutionary roots. Even though we should be careful about considering any pandemic as a direct trigger for the BIS (see Ackerman et al, 2021), recent research suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic had noticeable effects on BIS-related factors (Schaller et al, 2021; Szymkow et al, 2021). …”

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confidence: 99%

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Pandemic threat and authoritarian attitudes in Europe: An empirical analysis of the exposure to COVID-19

Filsinger

Freitag

2022

European Union Politics

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While analysis of the impact of threatening events has moved from bit player to center stage in political science in recent decades, the phenomenon of pandemic threat is widely neglected in terms of a systematic research agenda. Tying together insights from the behavioral immune system hypothesis and standard political science models of emotional processing, we evaluate whether exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic threat is related to authoritarian attitudes and which emotions do the work. Using 12 samples with over 12,000 respondents from six European countries at two time points (2020 and 2021), we argue that pandemic threats can generate disgust, anger, and fear. Our analyses indicate that exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic threat particularly activates fear, which in turn is linked to authoritarian attitudes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Pandemic threat and authoritarian attitudes in Europe: An empirical analysis of the exposure to COVID-19

Filsinger

Freitag

2022

European Union Politics

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“…On the other hand, some BIS responses are more proactive ( Schaller et al, 2015 ). That is, people will engage in behaviors which can proactively avoid pathogen risk in the long run (e.g., hand washing before meal) under conditions in which no immediate pathogen threat is detected ( Ackerman et al, 2018 , Schaller et al, 2021 , Stevenson et al, 2011 ). As infectious diseases have imposed selection pressure on human ancestors ( Schaller et al, 2015 ), many cultural norms serve to proactively defend people against pathogen threat ( Murray and Schaller, 2012 , Schaller et al, 2015 , Schaller et al, 2021 , Stevenson et al, 2011 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…That is, people will engage in behaviors which can proactively avoid pathogen risk in the long run (e.g., hand washing before meal) under conditions in which no immediate pathogen threat is detected ( Ackerman et al, 2018 , Schaller et al, 2021 , Stevenson et al, 2011 ). As infectious diseases have imposed selection pressure on human ancestors ( Schaller et al, 2015 ), many cultural norms serve to proactively defend people against pathogen threat ( Murray and Schaller, 2012 , Schaller et al, 2015 , Schaller et al, 2021 , Stevenson et al, 2011 ). Given that features of in-group assortative sociality (e.g., xenophobia) are adaptive anti-pathogen strategies developed under localized host-parasite coevolutionary races ( Fincher & Thornhill, 2012 ), strong in-group assortative sociality functions as a social defensive mechanism for reducing transmissible risks of novel infectious diseases in the long run ( Morand & Walther, 2018 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heightened religiosity proactively and reactively responds to the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe: Novel insights from the parasite-stress theory of sociality and the behavioral immune system theory

Zewei

2022

International Journal of Intercultural Relations

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“…Recent research has explored the consequences of COVID‐19 threat with regards to intergroup relations (see Schaller et al, 2021 ). With the virus thought to have originated in China, initial studies demonstrated positive correlations, in cross‐sectional datasets, between perceived COVID‐19 threat and anti‐Asian attitudes and support for discriminatory Chinese restrictions (Alston et al, 2020 ; Reny & Barreto, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reductions in perceived COVID‐19 threat amid UK’s mass public vaccination programme coincide with reductions in outgroup avoidance (but not prejudice)

Meleady

Hodson

2022

British J Social Psychol

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It has long been proposed that perceptions of threat contribute to greater outgroup negativity. Much of the existing evidence on the threat–prejudice association in the real world, however, is cross‐sectional in nature. Such designs do not adequately capture individual‐level changes in constructs, and how changes in constructs relate to changes in other theoretically relevant constructs. The current research exploited the unique opportunity afforded by the mass COVID‐19 vaccination programme in the United Kingdom to explore whether reductions in pathogen threat coincide with reductions in outgroup prejudice and avoidance. A two‐wave longitudinal study ( N 1 = 912, N 2 = 738) measured British adult's perceptions of COVID‐19 threat and anti‐immigrant bias before and during mass vaccine rollout in the United Kingdom. Tests of latent change models demonstrated that perceived COVID‐19 threat significantly declined as the vaccine programme progressed, as did measures of outgroup avoidance tendencies, but not prejudiced attitudes. Critically, change in threat was systematically correlated with change in outgroup avoidance: those with greater reductions in perceived COVID‐19 threat were, on average, those with greater reductions in outgroup avoidance. Findings provide important and novel insights into the implications of disease protection strategies for intergroup relations during an actual pandemic context, as it unfolds over time.

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The behavioural immune system and pandemic psychology: the evolved psychology of disease-avoidance and its implications for attitudes, behaviour, and public health during epidemic outbreaks

Cited by 34 publications

References 151 publications

Pandemic threat and authoritarian attitudes in Europe: An empirical analysis of the exposure to COVID-19

Pandemic threat and authoritarian attitudes in Europe: An empirical analysis of the exposure to COVID-19

Heightened religiosity proactively and reactively responds to the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe: Novel insights from the parasite-stress theory of sociality and the behavioral immune system theory

Reductions in perceived COVID‐19 threat amid UK’s mass public vaccination programme coincide with reductions in outgroup avoidance (but not prejudice)

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