The germ aversion paradox: When germ aversion predicts reduced alpha power suppression to norm violations

Abstract

Prior work shows that germ-averse individuals are more norm-abiding than their less germ-averse counterparts in the absence of any germ threat. However, it is unclear if germ aversion has similar effects in the presence of a germ threat. Here, we explored the hypothesis that germ-averse people would show less sensitivity to social norms because their perceived success in avoiding germs could make them feel protected from this threat. As an index of the sensitivity to norms, we assessed electrocortical reactions to another person's norm-violating behaviors. 59 young American adults were either primed with a germ threat or not. They subsequently saw either norm-violating or normal behaviors. In the control-priming condition, a reduction in upper-alpha band power in response to norm-violating (vs. normal) behaviors (signifiying vigilance to norm violations) was significantly greater for those high in germ aversion, thereby conceptually replicating the prior evidence linking germ aversion to conformity. This effect, however, was significantly reversed in the threat-priming condition. The elevated level of neural reactivity to norm violations in the threat-priming condition, present for those low in germ aversion, disappeared for those high in germ aversion. Our findings suggest that although germ aversion predicts greater norm-abidance in the absence of any germ threat, this effect paradoxically reverses itself in the presence of it.