The role of perceived vulnerability to disease in political polarization on climate change

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (9) ◽  
pp. 550-559
Author(s):  
Evan Anderson ◽  
Leslie Zebrowitz
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Political Polarization ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability To Disease

scholarly journals A Bayesian approach to reveal the key role of mask wearing in modulating projected interpersonal distance during the first COVID-19 outbreak

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0255598
Author(s):  
Matteo P. Lisi ◽  
Marina Scattolin ◽  
Martina Fusaro ◽  
Salvatore Maria Aglioti
Keyword(s):  
Situational Factors ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Interpersonal Distance ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Perceived Severity ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability ◽  
Dispositional Factors ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability To Disease ◽  
Moral Attitudes

Humans typically create and maintain social bonds through interactions that occur at close social distances. The interpersonal distance of at least 1 m recommended as a relevant measure for COVID-19 contagion containment requires a significant change in everyday behavior. In a web-based experimental study conducted during the first pandemic wave (mid-April 2020), we asked 242 participants to regulate their preferred distance towards confederates who did or did not wear protective masks and gloves and whose COVID-19 test results were positive, negative, or unknown. Information concerning dispositional factors (perceived vulnerability to disease, moral attitudes, and prosocial tendencies) and situational factors (perceived severity of the situation in the country, frequency of physical and virtual social contacts, and attitudes toward quarantine) that may modulate compliance with safety prescriptions was also acquired. A Bayesian analysis approach was adopted. Individual differences did not modulate interpersonal distance. We found strong evidence in favor of a reduction of interpersonal distance towards individuals wearing protective equipment and who tested negative to COVID-19. Importantly, shorter interpersonal distances were maintained towards confederates wearing protective gear, even when their COVID-19 test result was unknown or positive. This protective equipment-related regulation of interpersonal distance may reflect an underestimation of perceived vulnerability to infection; this perception must be discouraged when pursuing individual and collective health-safety measures.

Effects of Disease Threat and Attitude Similarity on Willingness to Help: The Mediating Role of Disgust

2021 ◽  
pp. 003329412110434
Author(s):  
Murray Millar ◽  
R. Shane Westfall ◽  
Andrea Fink-Armold
Keyword(s):  
Target Person ◽  
Attitude Similarity ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Willingness To Help ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability To Disease ◽  
University Undergraduates

The current research tested the hypothesis that an increase in perceived disease vulnerability would create more feelings of disgust and a reduced willingness to help persons with dissimilar attitudes. To test these hypotheses, two studies were performed. In the first study, 173 university undergraduates indicated their willingness to help a target person who held similar or dissimilar attitudes. Then the participants’ feelings of disgust about helping, and perceived vulnerability to disease were measured. In the second study, 127 university undergraduates read materials designed to make a disease threat or a non-disease threat salient then indicated their willingness to help a target person with similar or dissimilar attitudes. As predicted a concern about disease and attitude similarity interacted to influence willingness to help and this effect was mediated by feelings of disgust.

scholarly journals Food Neophobia and Food Disgust: The Mediating Role of Perceived Vulnerability to Disease

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Santisi ◽  
Paola Magnano ◽  
Vittorio Edoardo Scuderi
Keyword(s):  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Mediation Effect ◽  
Strong Positive Correlation ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Food Neophobia ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability To Disease

Negative attitudes towards food are influenced by two factors, neophobia and often related disgust. Neophobia is the tendency to avoid new foods, while food disgust is the refusal of food that is considered potentially harmful to health. The study presented here aims to analyze the correlation between these two attitudes and the possible mediation operated by the perception of vulnerability to diseases, in order to understand if and how this contributes to the disgust towards certain unfamiliar foods. The study was developed through the administration of an anonymous questionnaire to a sample of 487 Italian citizens participating on a voluntary basis. Three tools were used: Food Neophobia Scale, Perceived Vulnerability to Disease, and Food Disgust Scale. The results showed a strong positive correlation between food disgust and food neophobia. Furthermore, through the application of structural mediation models, it has been shown that between food neophobia and food disgust, there is a mediation effect determined by perceived infectivity. The research aims to make a significant contribution to the understanding of the relationship between food disgust and some individual and psychological characteristics of people, demonstrating that the fear of disease transmission affects their food choices.

scholarly journals Testing the Disgust-Based Mechanism of Homonegative Attitudes in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Szymkow ◽  
Natalia Frankowska ◽  
Katarzyna Galasinska
Keyword(s):  
System Theory ◽  
Immune System ◽  
Defense Mechanisms ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability ◽  
Behavioral Immune System ◽  
Functional Flexibility ◽  
Sexual Disgust ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability To Disease

Negative attitudes and stigmatization can originate from the perception of a disease-related threat. Following the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is often suggested that incidents of discriminatory behavior are the result of defense mechanisms aimed at avoiding pathogens. According to the behavioral immune system theory, people are motivated to distance themselves from individuals who show signs of infection, or who are only heuristically associated with a disease, primarily because of the disgust they evoke. In this paper we focus on negative attitudes toward gay men and lesbians who are among social groups that have been persistently framed as “unclean.” In our correlational study (N = 500 heterosexual participants; Polish sample data collected during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Poland, in March/April 2020) we tested moderation models derived from the behavioral immune system theory. Specifically, we investigated whether perceived vulnerability to disease and perceived threat of contracting COVID-19 moderate the relation between disgust and homonegativity. We found that sexual disgust (but not pathogen nor moral disgust) predicted homonegative attitudes. This effect was stronger for participants expressing higher levels of perceived vulnerability to disease but was not dependent on the perception of the COVID-19 threat. The results reaffirm previous evidence indicating a pivotal role of disgust in disease-avoidance mechanisms. They also point to functional flexibility of the behavioral immune system by demonstrating the moderating role of perceived vulnerability to disease in shaping homonegative attitudes. Finally, they show that the threat of COVID-19 does not strengthen the relationship between disgust and homonegativity.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Lockdown and Mental Health in a Sample Population in Spain: The Role of Self-Compassion

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 2103
Author(s):  
María Elena Gutiérrez-Hernández ◽  
Luisa Fernanda Fanjul ◽  
Alicia Díaz-Megolla ◽  
Pablo Reyes-Hurtado ◽  
Jonay Francisco Herrera-Rodríguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Status ◽  
Physical Symptoms ◽  
Mental Health Status ◽  
Sample Population ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability ◽  
Self Compassion ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability To Disease ◽  
Anxiety Depression

Previous data support that mental health is affected during pandemic and lockdown situations. Yet, little is known about the positive factors that protect mental health during a lockdown. This study analyzed mental health status—particularly emotional problems—and the role of several sociodemographic and clinical variables; it also explored whether there is a positive relationship between self-compassion and better mental health status. A cross-sectional study was carried out in Spain with the participation of 917 fluent Spanish-speaking residents in a survey conducted approximately midway through the COVID-19 lockdown. The survey tested for anxiety, depression, and stress using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) to measure self-compassion values, and the Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Questionnaire (PVDQ) to assess the degree of risk perceived by participants. Around 30% of the individuals surveyed (recruited by snowball sampling) showed clinically significant levels of anxiety, depression, and stress. The variables most frequently associated with anxiety, depression, and stress were low levels of self-compassion, age, gender, previous physical symptoms, a previous mental disorder, being a student, and perceived vulnerability to disease. We discuss the hypothetical protective role against anxiety, depression, and stress of certain skills such as self-compassion and the possibility that increasing self-compassion may be used to promote better mental health in similar situations.

The Role of Late-Night Infotainment Comedy in Communicating Climate Change Consensus

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward John Roy Clarke ◽  
Anna Klas ◽  
Joshua Stevenson ◽  
Emily Jane Kothe
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Mitigation Policy ◽  
Behavioural Intentions ◽  
Late Night ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Adaptation Policies ◽  
Diverse Audience

Climate change is a politically-polarised issue, with conservatives less likely than liberals to perceive it as human-caused and consequential. Furthermore, they are less likely to support mitigation and adaptation policies needed to reduce its impacts. This study aimed to examine whether John Oliver’s “A Mathematically Representative Climate Change Debate” clip on his program Last Week Tonight polarised or depolarised a politically-diverse audience on climate policy support and behavioural intentions. One hundred and fifty-nine participants, recruited via Amazon MTurk (94 female, 64 male, one gender unspecified, Mage = 51.07, SDage = 16.35), were presented with either John Oliver’s climate change consensus clip, or a humorous video unrelated to climate change. Although the climate change consensus clip did not reduce polarisation (or increase it) relative to a control on mitigation policy support, it resulted in hyperpolarisation on support for adaptation policies and increased climate action intentions among liberals but not conservatives.

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