title: Disease-avoidance processes and stigmatization: cues of substandard health arouse heightened discomfort with physical contact.
abstract: An evolutionary approach to stigmatization suggests that disease-avoidance processes contribute to some instances of social exclusion. Disease-avoidance processes are over-inclusive, targeting even non-threatening individuals who display cues of substandard health. We investigated whether such cues motivate avoidance of physical contact in particular. In Studies 1 and 2, targets with disease (e.g., leprosy) or atypical morphologies (e.g., amputated leg, obesity) were found to arouse differentially heightened discomfort with physical (versus nonphysical) contact, whereas a criminal target (stigmatized for disease-irrelevant reasons) was found to arouse elevated discomfort for both types of contact. Study 3 used a between-subjects design that eliminated the influence of extraneous factors. A diseased target was found to arouse differentially heightened discomfort with physical (versus nonphysical) contact, and to do so more strongly than any other type of target.
authors.affiliation: University of Bristol, School of Experimental Psychology, 12a Priory Rd., Bristol BS8 1TU, UK. j.h.park@bristol.ac.uk
authors.forename: Justin H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: van Leeuwen
authors.forename: Ypapanti
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chochorelou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000523:psychology*; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011287:Prejudice / Q000523:psychology; D012929:Psychological Distance; D012928:Social Desirability; D013240:Stereotyping; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult