News of disease outbreaks can warp our brains in strange and subtle ways

Key Points:

• The "behavioural immune system" is a psychological mechanism that helps reduce contact with pathogens by promoting disgust and conformity to social norms, which historically helped prevent disease spread.
• Reminders of illness can increase conformity, risk aversion, and harsher moral judgments, as shown in studies where participants became more likely to follow group opinions or judge social behaviors more strictly after exposure to disease cues.
• This system may also contribute to xenophobia by decreasing trust in outsiders, with research indicating that people may unconsciously associate immigrants with disease threats, influencing political attitudes.
• Real-world outbreaks like COVID-19 have been linked to shifts in social attitudes such as increased wariness, xenophobia, and moral vigilance, though findings are mixed due to the complexity of real-life influences on behavior.
• Individual responses to disease threats vary widely based on personal factors like education, personality, and social environment, making the behavioural immune system just one of many influences on human psychology during pandemics.