Abstract
As the world grapples with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it is ever more critical to understand how pathogens affect human social behaviors and attitudes. We review recent evidence for the parasite stress theory, which posits that pathogen threats may have led to psychological and cultural adaptations in terms of collectivism and outgroup prejudice. Although there is strong literature support that behavioral immune responses might have contributed to collectivistic norms, the link between pathogen prevalence and outgroup prejudice is less clear. To explain this, we proposed a new hypothesis, arguing that outgroup prejudice as an undesirable side effect of behavioral immune systems might be curtailed by collectivistic norms and centralized authorities, which, in turn, reflect cultural adaptations to cooperation in high-pathogen environments. This perspective provides novel explanations of the cultural difference in the phenomena of xenophobia and racial prejudice during pandemics.
Highlights
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is by no means the first pathogen scare faced by humans
We review recent evidence for the parasite stress theory, which posits that pathogen threats may have led to psychological and cultural adaptations in terms of collectivism and outgroup prejudice
There is strong literature support that behavioral immune responses might have contributed to collectivistic norms, the link between pathogen prevalence and outgroup prejudice is less clear
Summary
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is by no means the first pathogen scare faced by humans. People might resort to a conservative or discriminative mindset (e.g., traditionalism and xenophobia), which, in evolutionary history, functions to minimize contacts with outsiders who might spread novel pathogens (Faulkner, Schaller, Park, & Duncan, 2004; Tybur et al, 2016). This is relevant during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, as incidents of outgroup prejudice targeting a variety of victims at individual, societal, and political levels are drawing increasing attention (Clissold, Nylander, Watson, & Ventriglio, 2020; Roberto, Johnson, & Rauhaus, 2020). As the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tweeted, “[the pandemic] unleash a tsunami of hate and xenophobia, scapegoating and scare-mongering” (Guterres, 2020)
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