scholarly journals Testing the motivational tradeoffs between pathogen avoidance and status acquisition

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitch Brown ◽  
Donald F. Sacco
Keyword(s):  
Immune System ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Situational Factors ◽  
Behavioral Strategy ◽  
High Status ◽  
Leadership Position ◽  
Group Leadership ◽  
Interpersonal Contact ◽  
Behavioral Immune System ◽  
Pathogen Avoidance

To reduce disease transmission through interpersonal contact, humans have evolved a behavioral immune system that facilitates identification and avoidance of pathogens. One behavioral strategy in response to pathogenic threat is the adoption of interpersonal reticence. However, reticence may impede status acquisition. This program of research tested whether activating pathogen-avoidant motives through priming fosters reticence related to status, namely disinterest in pursuing a group leadership position (Study 1) or disinterest in accepting a group leadership position bestowed onto them (Study 2). Individuals high in germ aversion were particularly interested in pursuing leadership as a form of status, with disease salience unexpectedly heightening status motives among those low in germ aversion. Furthermore, those high in perceived infectability reported reluctance for high-status positions, although disease salience heightened interest in accepting such positions. We contextualize findings by identifying dispositional and situational factors that foster individuals to invoke motivational tradeoffs.

scholarly journals Testing the Motivational Tradeoffs in Pathogen Avoidance and Status Acquisition

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitch Brown ◽  
Donald F. Sacco
Keyword(s):  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Leadership Role ◽  
Situational Factors ◽  
High Status ◽  
Leadership Position ◽  
Group Leadership ◽  
Interpersonal Contact ◽  
Current Program ◽  
Environmental Pathogens ◽  
Pathogen Avoidance

In the service of reducing disease transmission through interpersonal contact, humans have evolved a behavioral immune system that facilitates identification and avoidance of environmental pathogens. One behavioral strategy in response to pathogenic threat is the adoption of interpersonal reticence. However, reticence may impede status acquisition, a process that necessarily fosters distinctiveness from the rest of the group that affords increased access to resources. The current program of research tested whether activation of pathogen-avoidant motives through priming fosters reticence related to status, namely disinterest in pursuing a group leadership position (Study 1) or disinterest in accepting a group leadership position when led to believe one has been selected by others (Study 2). Results indicated that those high in germ aversion were particularly interested in pursuing leadership as a form of status, with disease salience unexpectedly heightening status motives among those low in germ aversion. Furthermore, those high in perceived infectability reported reluctance in accepting high-status positions, although disease salience heightened interest in accepting a leadership role. We contextualize these findings by identifying the dispositional and situational factors that foster individuals to invoke a motivational tradeoff between status and pathogen-avoidant motives.

scholarly journals Generalized or Origin-Specific Out-Group Prejudice?: The Role of Temporary and Chronic Pathogen-Avoidance Motivation in Intergroup Relations

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 147470491982685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tingting Ji ◽  
Joshua M. Tybur ◽  
Mark van Vugt
Keyword(s):  
Immune System ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Disgust Sensitivity ◽  
Total N ◽  
Behavioral Immune System ◽  
Avoidance Motivation ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
Pathogen Avoidance

Researchers have proposed that intergroup prejudice is partially caused by behavioral immune system mechanisms. Across four studies (total N = 1,849), we used both experimental (pathogen priming) and individual differences (pathogen disgust sensitivity [PDS]) approaches to test whether the behavioral immune system influences prejudice toward immigrants indiscriminately (the generalized out-group prejudice hypothesis) or specifically toward immigrants from a pathogen-rich ecology (the origin-specific out-group prejudice hypothesis). Internal meta-analyses lend some support to both hypotheses. At the experimental level, pathogen primes had no effect on attitudes toward origin-unspecified immigrants or immigrants from a pathogen-rich ecology. At the individual differences level, PDS has a unique negative effect on comfort with immigrants from pathogen-rich ecologies but not on comfort with immigrants from unspecified ecologies. However, pathogen disgust sensitivity was negatively related to the decision to allow entry to both origin-unspecified immigrants and immigrants from a pathogen-rich ecology.

scholarly journals Preregistered replication of “Sick body, vigilant mind: The biological immune system activates the behavioral immune system”

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua M. Tybur ◽  
Benedict C Jones ◽  
Lisa Marie DeBruine ◽  
Joshua Ackerman ◽  
Vanessa Fasolt
Keyword(s):  
Immune System ◽  
Original Study ◽  
University Of Michigan ◽  
Subsequent Infection ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Behavioral Immune System ◽  
System P ◽  
Biological Immune System ◽  
The University ◽  
Pathogen Avoidance

The tendency to attend to and avoid cues to pathogens varies across individuals and contexts. Researchers have proposed that this variation is partially driven by immunological vulnerability to infection, though support for this hypothesis is equivocal. One key piece of evidence finds that recently ill participants – who may have a reduced ability to combat subsequent infection – allocate more attention to faces with infectious disease cues than do participants who have not recently been ill. The current manuscript reports a direct replication of this study using a sample of 402 individuals from the University of Michigan, the University of Glasgow, and VU Amsterdam – over four times the sample size of the original study. No effect of illness recency on attentional bias for disfigured faces emerged. Though not supporting the original finding, this replication provides suggestions for future directions for research on the psychological underpinnings of pathogen avoidance.

scholarly journals Preregistered Direct Replication of “Sick Body, Vigilant Mind: The Biological Immune System Activates the Behavioral Immune System”

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (11) ◽  
pp. 1461-1469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua M. Tybur ◽  
Benedict C. Jones ◽  
Lisa M. DeBruine ◽  
Joshua M. Ackerman ◽  
Vanessa Fasolt
Keyword(s):  
Immune System ◽  
Original Study ◽  
Future Research ◽  
University Of Michigan ◽  
Subsequent Infection ◽  
Behavioral Immune System ◽  
Current Article ◽  
Biological Immune System ◽  
The University ◽  
Pathogen Avoidance

The tendency to attend to and avoid cues to pathogens varies across individuals and contexts. Researchers have proposed that this variation is partially driven by immunological vulnerability to infection, though support for this hypothesis is equivocal. One key piece of evidence (Miller & Maner, 2011) shows that participants who have recently been ill—and hence may have a reduced ability to combat subsequent infection—allocate more attention to faces with infectious-disease cues than do participants who have not recently been ill. The current article describes a direct replication of this study using a sample of 402 individuals from the University of Michigan, the University of Glasgow, and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam—more than 4 times the sample size of the original study. No effect of illness recency on attentional bias for disfigured faces emerged. Though it did not support the original finding, this replication provides suggestions for future research on the psychological underpinnings of pathogen avoidance.

scholarly journals Behavioral immune system linked to responses to the threat of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasia Makhanova ◽  
Melissa A. Shepherd
Keyword(s):  
Immune System ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Grocery Shopping ◽  
Psychological Processes ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability ◽  
Behavioral Immune System ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability To Disease ◽  
Pathogen Avoidance ◽  
Big 5 Personality

People possess psychological processes that help them avoid pathogens, which is particularly important when novel infectious diseases (e.g., COVID-19) spread through the population. Across two studies we examined whether trait pathogen avoidance (operationalized as perceived vulnerability to disease; PVD) was linked with responses to COVID-19 and preventative behaviors. In Study 1, PVD was positively associated with stronger reactions to the threat of COVID-19, including increased anxiety, perceptions that people should alter their typical behavior, as well as reported importance of engaging in proactive and social distancing behaviors. In Study 2, PVD was again associated with increased anxiety, as well as more vigilant behavior when grocery shopping, fewer trips to the store, and fewer face-to-face interactions. These associations remained significant when controlling for the Big-5 personality traits. Although the two subscales of PVD (germ aversion and perceived infectability) were often parallel predictors, several differences between the subscales emerged. Germ aversion may be more associated with behaviors whereas perceived infectability with vigilance.

scholarly journals Behavioral immune tradeoffs: Interpersonal value relaxes social pathogen avoidance

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua M. Tybur ◽  
Debra Lieberman ◽  
Lei Fan ◽  
Tom Kupfer ◽  
Reinout E. de Vries
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Immune System ◽  
Pathogen Transmission ◽  
Continuous Measure ◽  
System Research ◽  
Behavioral Immune System ◽  
Social Partners ◽  
Pathogen Avoidance ◽  
Interpersonal Value

Behavioral immune system research has illuminated how people detect and avoid signs of infectious disease. But how do we regulate exposure to pathogens that produce no symptoms in their hosts? This manuscript tests the proposition that estimates of interpersonal value are used for this task. Three studies (N = 1694), each conducted using U.S. samples, are consistent with this proposition: people are less averse to engaging in infection-risky acts not only with friends relative to foes, but also with honest and agreeable strangers relative to dishonest and disagreeable ones. Further, a continuous measure of how much a person values a target covaries with comfort with infection-risky acts with that target, even within relationship categories. Findings indicate that social prophylactic motivations arise not only from cues to infectiousness, but also interpersonal value. Consequently, pathogen transmission within social networks might be exacerbated by relaxed contamination aversions with highly valued social partners.

scholarly journals Behavioral immune system activity predicts downregulation of chronic basal inflammation

PLoS ONE ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. e0203961 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Gassen ◽  
Marjorie L. Prokosch ◽  
Anastasia Makhanova ◽  
Micah J. Eimerbrink ◽  
Jordon D. White ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune System ◽  
System Activity ◽  
Behavioral Immune System

scholarly journals Exploring the Role of Innate Lymphocytes in the Immune System of Bats and Virus-Host Interactions

Viruses ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 150
Author(s):  
Wan Rong Sia ◽  
Yichao Zheng ◽  
Fei Han ◽  
Shiwei Chen ◽  
Shaohua Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune System ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Viral Infections ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Immune Systems ◽  
Adaptive Immune ◽  
Adaptive Immune Cells ◽  
Innate Lymphocytes

Bats are reservoirs of a large number of viruses of global public health significance, including the ancestral virus for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Although bats are natural carriers of multiple pathogenic viruses, they rarely display signs of disease. Recent insights suggest that bats have a more balanced host defense and tolerance system to viral infections that may be linked to the evolutionary adaptation to powered flight. Therefore, a deeper understanding of bat immune system may provide intervention strategies to prevent zoonotic disease transmission and to identify new therapeutic targets. Similar to other eutherian mammals, bats have both innate and adaptive immune systems that have evolved to detect and respond to invading pathogens. Bridging these two systems are innate lymphocytes, which are highly abundant within circulation and barrier tissues. These cells share the characteristics of both innate and adaptive immune cells and are poised to mount rapid effector responses. They are ideally suited as the first line of defense against early stages of viral infections. Here, we will focus on the current knowledge of innate lymphocytes in bats, their function, and their potential role in host–pathogen interactions. Moreover, given that studies into bat immune systems are often hindered by a lack of bat-specific research tools, we will discuss strategies that may aid future research in bat immunity, including the potential use of organoid models to delineate the interplay between innate lymphocytes, bat viruses, and host tolerance.

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