Parasite stress and pathogen avoidance relate to distinct dimensions of political ideology across 30 nations

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Tybur, Joshua M, Inbar, Yoel, Aaroe, Lene, Barclay, Pat, Barlow, Fiona Kate, de Barra, Micheal, Becker, D Vaughn, Borovoi, Leah, Choi, Incheol, Choi, Jong An et al (show 32 more authors) , Consedine, Nathan S, Conway, Alan, Conway, Jane Rebecca, Conway, Paul, Adoric, Vera Cubela, Demirci, Dilara Ekin, Maria Fernandez, Ana, Ferreira, Diogo Conque Seco, Ishii, Keiko, Jaksic, Ivana, Ji, Tingting, van Leeuwen, Florian, Lewis, David MG, Li, Norman P, McIntyre, Jason C ORCID: 0000-0002-5601-524X, Mukherjee, Sumitava, Park, Justin H, Pawlowski, Boguslaw, Petersen, Michael Bang, Pizarro, David, Prodromitis, Gerasimos, Prokop, Pavol, Rantala, Markus J, Reynolds, Lisa M, Sandin, Bonifacio, Sevi, Baris, De Smet, Delphine, Srinivasan, Narayanan, Tewari, Shruti, Wilson, Cameron, Yong, Jose C and Zezelj, Iris (2016) Parasite stress and pathogen avoidance relate to distinct dimensions of political ideology across 30 nations. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 113 (44). pp. 12408-12413.

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Abstract

People who are more avoidant of pathogens are more politically conservative, as are nations with greater parasite stress. In the current research, we test two prominent hypotheses that have been proposed as explanations for these relationships. The first, which is an intragroup account, holds that these relationships between pathogens and politics are based on motivations to adhere to local norms, which are sometimes shaped by cultural evolution to have pathogen-neutralizing properties. The second, which is an intergroup account, holds that these same relationships are based on motivations to avoid contact with outgroups, who might pose greater infectious disease threats than ingroup members. Results from a study surveying 11,501 participants across 30 nations are more consistent with the intragroup account than with the intergroup account. National parasite stress relates to traditionalism (an aspect of conservatism especially related to adherence to group norms) but not to social dominance orientation (SDO; an aspect of conservatism especially related to endorsements of intergroup barriers and negativity toward ethnic and racial outgroups). Further, individual differences in pathogen-avoidance motives (i.e., disgust sensitivity) relate more strongly to traditionalism than to SDO within the 30 nations.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	political ideology, pathogens, disgust, culture, evolutionary psychology
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	22 Nov 2016 07:54
Last Modified:	19 Jan 2023 07:25
DOI:	10.1073/pnas.1607398113
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3004583