title: Disease-avoidant behaviour and its consequences.
abstract: Medical conditions that are non-contagious, but that appear contagious, seem to result in the sufferer being avoided. Error management theory (EMT), suggests that such false alarms occur because the cost of infection poses a greater threat to ones fitness than avoidance. Study 1 attempted to demonstrate a disease-related false alarm effect by asking participants, to evaluate a series of vignettes, featuring people with infectious diseases, non-infectious diseases that looked infectious and non-infectious diseases that did not. Judgements of contracting infection under varying levels of contact, and desire to avoid were obtained. Consistent with EMT, a false alarm effect was evident. Study 2 examined the importance of the face as a key indicator of real and apparent infection, by determining whether facial symptoms result in a greater desire to avoid people with infectious and non-infectious diseases. Consistent with expectation, participants reported a greater desire to avoid people with facially displayed symptoms. Together, these results support the idea that humans have evolved a general tendency to avoid individuals with disease signs, especially if displayed upon the face. One consequence is that where a facially displayed disease sign persists, even if known to be benign, its bearer will experience chronic avoidance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.
authors.forename: Daria
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kouznetsova
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Stevenson
authors.forename: Megan J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Oaten
authors.forename: Trevor I
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Case
mesh_terms: D001362:Avoidance Learning; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000523:psychology* / Q000635:transmission*; D003469:Culture; D004644:Emotions; D005148:Facial Dermatoses / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D055809:Illness Behavior; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D012928:Social Desirability; D057545:Social Stigma; D055815:Young Adult