title: Parasite stress and pathogen avoidance relate to distinct dimensions of political ideology across 30 nations.
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.
authors: Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081BT, The Netherlands; j.m.tybur@vu.nl.
authors: Joshua M
authors: JM
authors: Tybur
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M1C 1A4.
authors: Yoel
authors: Y
authors: Inbar
authors: Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, Aarhus 8000 C, Denmark.
authors: Lene
authors: L
authors: Aarøe
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada N1G 2W1.
authors: Pat
authors: P
authors: Barclay
authors: School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, QLD 4072, Australia.
authors: Fiona Kate
authors: FK
authors: Barlow
authors: Institute of Applied Health Sciences, College of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, United Kingdom.|Center for the Study of Cultural Evolution, Stockholm University, 114 18 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors: Mícheál
authors: M
authors: de Barra
authors: Human Systems Engineering, Arizona State University, Mesa, AZ 85212.
authors: D Vaughn
authors: DV
authors: Becker
authors: Department of Psychology and Education, The Open University, Raanana 4353701, Israel.
authors: Leah
authors: L
authors: Borovoi
authors: Department of Psychology, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, South Korea.
authors: Incheol
authors: I
authors: Choi
authors: Center for Happiness Studies, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, South Korea.
authors: Jong An
authors: JA
authors: Choi
authors: Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland 92019, New Zealand.
authors: Nathan S
authors: NS
authors: Consedine
authors: School of Politics and International Relations, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors: Alan
authors: A
authors: Conway
authors: Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, & Neuroscience, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, United Kingdom.
authors: Jane Rebecca
authors: JR
authors: Conway
authors: Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32304.|Department of Psychology, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany.
authors: Paul
authors: P
authors: Conway
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Zadar, 23000 Zadar, Croatia.
authors: Vera Cubela
authors: VC
authors: Adoric
authors: Department of Psychology, Bilkent University, Bilkent, Ankara 06800, Turkey.
authors: Dilara Ekin
authors: DE
authors: Demirci
authors: Escuela de Psicología, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, 9170197 Santiago, Chile.
authors: Ana María
authors: AM
authors: Fernández
authors: Department of Psychology, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, 49100-000 Sergipe, Brazil.
authors: Diogo Conque Seco
authors: DC
authors: Ferreira
authors: Department of Psychology, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan.
authors: Keiko
authors: K
authors: Ishii
authors: Institute for Educational Research, Belgrade University, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia.
authors: Ivana
authors: I
authors: Jakšić
authors: Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081BT, The Netherlands.
authors: Tingting
authors: T
authors: Ji
authors: Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, Aarhus 8000 C, Denmark.
authors: Florian
authors: F
authors: van Leeuwen
authors: School of Psychology and Exercise Science, Murdoch University, WA 6150, Australia.
authors: David M G
authors: DM
authors: Lewis
authors: School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University, Singapore 178903.
authors: Norman P
authors: NP
authors: Li
authors: Institute of Psychology, Health, and Society, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GL, United Kingdom.
authors: Jason C
authors: JC
authors: McIntyre
authors: Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380015, India.
authors: Sumitava
authors: S
authors: Mukherjee
authors: School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TU, United Kingdom.
authors: Justin H
authors: JH
authors: Park
authors: Department of Human Biology, University of Wroclaw, 50-138, Wroclaw, Poland.
authors: Boguslaw
authors: B
authors: Pawlowski
authors: Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, Aarhus 8000 C, Denmark.
authors: Michael Bang
authors: MB
authors: Petersen
authors: Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853.
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Pizarro
authors: Department of Psychology, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, 176 71, Athens, Greece.
authors: Gerasimos
authors: G
authors: Prodromitis
authors: Department of Biology, Trnava University, 918 43 Trnava, Slovakia.|Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 845 06 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors: Pavol
authors: P
authors: Prokop
authors: Turku Brain and Mind Center, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland.|Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland.
authors: Markus J
authors: MJ
authors: Rantala
authors: Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland 92019, New Zealand.
authors: Lisa M
authors: LM
authors: Reynolds
authors: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors: Bonifacio
authors: B
authors: Sandin
authors: Department of Psychology, Bilkent University, Bilkent, Ankara 06800, Turkey.
authors: Bariş
authors: B
authors: Sevi
authors: Department of Interdisciplinary Study of Law, Private Law, and Business Law, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
authors: Delphine
authors: D
authors: De Smet
authors: Centre of Behavioural & Cognitive Sciences, University of Allahabad, Allahabad 211002, India.
authors: Narayanan
authors: N
authors: Srinivasan
authors: Centre of Behavioural & Cognitive Sciences, University of Allahabad, Allahabad 211002, India.
authors: Shruti
authors: S
authors: Tewari
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada N1G 2W1.
authors: Cameron
authors: C
authors: Wilson
authors: School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University, Singapore 178903.
authors: Jose C
authors: JC
authors: Yong
authors: Faculty of Philosophy, Belgrade University, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia.
authors: Iris
authors: I
authors: Žeželj
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001290:Attitude; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010271:Parasites / Q000502:physiology*; D011057:Politics; D012930:Social Dominance; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: culture; disgust; evolutionary psychology; pathogens; political ideology