Disease avoidance and ethnocentrism

Evolution and Human Behavior (Article in Press)

Disease avoidance and ethnocentrism: the effects of disease
vulnerability and disgust sensitivity on intergroup attitudes

Carlos David Navarrete

Abstract

Extending a model relating xenophobia to disease avoidance [Faulkner,
J., Schaller, M., Park, J. H., & Duncan, L. A. (2004). Evolved
disease-avoidance mechanisms and contemporary xenophobic attitudes.
Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 7(4), 333-353.], we argue
that both inter- and intragroup attitudes can be understood in terms
of the costs and benefits of interacting with the in-group versus out-
groups. In ancestral environments, interaction with members of the in-
group will generally have posed less risk of disease transmission
than interaction with members of an out-group, as individuals will
have possessed antibodies to many of the pathogens present in the
former, in contrast to those prevalent among the latter. Moreover,
because coalitions are more likely among in-group members, the in-
group would have been a potential source of aid in the event of
debilitating illness. We conducted two online studies exploring the
relationship between disease threat and intergroup attitudes. Study 1
found that ethnocentric attitudes increase as a function of perceived
disease vulnerability. Study 2 found that in-group attraction
increases as a function of disgust sensitivity, both when measured as
an individual difference variable and when experimentally primed. We
discuss these results with attention to the relationships among
disease salience, out-group negativity, and in-group attraction.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2005.12.001

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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Disease avoidance and ethnocentrism
    ... Disease avoidance and ethnocentrism: the effects of disease ... Extending a model relating xenophobia to disease avoidance [Faulkner, ... disease-avoidance mechanisms and contemporary xenophobic attitudes. ... relationship between disease threat and intergroup attitudes. ...
    (uk.philosophy.humanism)
  • Re: Disease avoidance and ethnocentrism
    ... Disease avoidance and ethnocentrism: the effects of disease ... Extending a model relating xenophobia to disease avoidance [Faulkner, ... disease-avoidance mechanisms and contemporary xenophobic attitudes. ... increases as a function of disgust sensitivity, ...
    (uk.philosophy.humanism)