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July 2006Volume 27, Issue 4, Pages 270–282
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Disease avoidance and ethnocentrism: the effects of disease vulnerability and disgust sensitivity on intergroup attitudes

Carlos David Navarrete
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Carlos David Navarrete
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Affiliations

  • Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA
  • UCLA Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA

Correspondence

  • Corresponding author. Department of Psychology, Harvard University 962 William James Hall, 33 Kirkland St, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
'Correspondence information about the author Carlos David Navarrete
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Carlos David Navarrete
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Affiliations

  • Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA
  • UCLA Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA

Correspondence

  • Corresponding author. Department of Psychology, Harvard University 962 William James Hall, 33 Kirkland St, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
,
Daniel M.T. Fessler
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Daniel M.T. Fessler
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Affiliations

  • UCLA Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA
  • Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA
Disease avoidance and ethnocentrism: the effects of disease vulnerability and disgust sensitivity on intergroup attitudes
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2005.12.001

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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.

Keywords:

Coalition formation, Disgust sensitivity, Fear of death, In-group, Out-group, Intergroup bias, Prejudice

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© 2006 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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July 2006Volume 27, Issue 4, Pages 270–282
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