ABSTRACT

This article provides an overview of the “behavioural immune system” – a suite of psychological mechanisms that complements immunological defences by motivating pre-emptive behavioural responses to infection threats – and summarises research documenting its implications for social attitudes and social behaviour. This summary focuses on four domains of phenomena: interpersonal interactions, stigma and prejudice, conformity, and political attitudes. Then, drawing on this conceptual and empirical background, the article discusses consequences that disease outbreaks (such as the COVID-19 pandemic) may have for individuals’ attitudes and actions, and the further consequences that these attitudes and actions might plausibly have for population-level epidemiological and public health outcomes.

摘要

本文概述了“行为免疫系统”——一套通过激发对感染威胁的先发制人行为反应来补充免疫防御的心理机制——并总结了记录其对社会态度和社会行为影响的研究。本摘要侧重于现象的四个领域：人际互动、污名和偏见、从众和政治态度。然后，利用这一概念和经验背景，本文讨论了疾病爆发（如 COVID-19 大流行）可能对个人的态度和行为产生的后果，以及这些态度和行为可能对人群产生的进一步后果——水平的流行病学和公共卫生结果。