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Disease Salience Effects on Desire for Affiliation With In-Group and Out-Group Members: Cognitive and Affective
Murray Millar1, Andrea Fink-Armold1, Aileen Lovitt1
1University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
Summary
Concerns about infectious diseases reduce willingness to affiliate with out-groups. Disgust and beliefs about infection risk mediate this effect, influencing social distancing behaviors.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Infectious Disease Epidemiology
- Intergroup Relations
Background:
- Intergroup contact theory suggests positive interactions reduce prejudice.
- Threat perception, particularly disease threat, can alter social behavior and intergroup attitudes.
- Understanding the psychological mechanisms behind out-group avoidance is crucial for public health and social cohesion.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if disease threat cues decrease affiliation with out-group members.
- To examine the mediating roles of disgust and beliefs about infection risk in this relationship.
- To test the hypothesis that disease threats influence intergroup avoidance through disgust and perceived infection risk.
Main Methods:
- Experimental design with American participants of European descent.
- Manipulation of threat salience: disease threat versus control threat.
- Exposure to photographs of same-race and different-race individuals.
- Measurement of avoidance intentions, emotional responses (disgust), and cognitive beliefs (infection risk).
Main Results:
- Disease threat significantly decreased the desire to affiliate with out-group members compared to the control condition.
- Feelings of disgust towards the out-group target were positively associated with avoidance.
- Beliefs about the infection risk posed by the out-group target also mediated the relationship between disease threat and avoidance.
- Both disgust and infection risk beliefs collectively mediated the effect of disease salience on reduced affiliation.
Conclusions:
- Disease threat cues can activate pathogen avoidance mechanisms, leading to reduced intergroup affiliation.
- Disgust and perceived infection risk are key psychological mediators in the relationship between disease threat and out-group avoidance.
- Findings highlight the role of evolved disease avoidance systems in shaping social behavior and intergroup relations, with implications for understanding prejudice and discrimination.
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