Sensitivity to Deviance and to Dissimilarity: Basic Cognitive Processes Under Activation of the Behavioral Immune...

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Behavioral Biology

Background:

• Pathogens exert significant evolutionary pressure on humans.
• A behavioral immune system has evolved to detect and avoid disease cues.
• Morphological deviance (dissimilarity from the norm) is a common cue for pathogens.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test if the behavioral immune system increases sensitivity to morphological deviance.
• To investigate if pathogen threat primes lead to greater perception of dissimilarity.

Main Methods:

• Study 1: Assessed disgust sensitivity and differentiation between normal/disfigured faces (N=343).
• Study 2: Primed participants with pathogen threat and measured differentiation between geometric shapes (N=109).
• Study 3: Examined disgust sensitivity and perceived similarity of neutral images (N=621).

Main Results:

• Higher disgust sensitivity correlated with greater detection of facial disfigurement.
• Pathogen threat priming increased sensitivity to deviance in geometric shapes.
• Disgust sensitivity predicted perceiving neutral stimuli as more dissimilar.

Conclusions:

• Activation of the behavioral immune system enhances sensitivity to morphological deviance.
• This heightened sensitivity can generalize to non-health-related stimuli.
• Findings have implications for understanding social perception and behavior.