Do Islanders Have a More Reactive Behavioral Immune System? Social Cognitions and Preferred Interpersonal Distances During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Insular populations have traditionally drawn a lot of attention from epidemiologists as they provide important insights regarding transmission of infectious diseases and propagation of epidemics. There are numerous historical instances where isolated populations showed high morbidity once a new virus entered the population. Building upon that and recent findings that the activation of the behavioral immune system (BIS) depends both upon one’s vulnerability and environmental context, we predicted that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, place of residence (island vs. mainland) explains a significant proportion of variance in preferred interpersonal distances, animosity toward strangers, and willingness to punish those who do not adhere to COVID-19 preventive measures. With 48 populated islands, Croatia provides a fruitful testing ground for this prediction. We also opted to explore relations among BIS-related variables (pathogen disgust, germ aversion, and perceived infectability) and social cognitions in a more natural context than has previously been done. The study was conducted online, on Croatian residents, during April and May 2020. As expected, the BIS variables contributed significantly to preferred interpersonal distances, negative emotions toward strangers, and willingness to punish those who do not adhere to COVID-19 preventive measures. Furthermore, our results showed that geographical location explained a significant amount of variance in preferred social (but not personal and intimate) distances and negative emotions toward foreigners. As Croatian islands are extremely frequent travel destinations, these differences between mainlanders and islanders cannot be explained by the lack of exposure to foreigners. Additionally, we found that scores on preferred interpersonal distances, pathogen disgust, and germ aversion were significantly higher compared to those obtained in Croatian samples before the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, men scored higher in perceived infectability than before the COVID-19 pandemic, and women did not, which reflects the objectively higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 for men than for women. Taken together, our results support the notion that BIS is a highly adaptive and context-dependent response system, likely more reactive in more susceptible individuals.

Testing the Disgust-Based Mechanism of Homonegative Attitudes in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Analyses for the moderating role of the perceived threat of COVID-19 showed that this kind of threat played no role in the relationship between sexual disgust and homonegativity. Situational circumstances, such as a pandemic, are thought to strengthen the potential effects of disease-avoidance mechanisms (e.g., Bacon and Corr, 2020;Millar et al, 2020;Sorokowski et al, 2020;Hromatko et al, 2021;Miłkowska et al, 2021;Stevenson et al, 2021). Our research indicates, however, that concerns about COVID-19 have no effect on attitudes toward gay persons.…”

“…Disease avoidance mechanisms and their potential role in explaining social attitudes have recently received much scientific attention (e.g., Mentser and Nussinson, 2020;Kramer and Bressan, 2021). In the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, they have become even more pertinent (Bressan, 2020;Seitz et al, 2020;Hromatko et al, 2021). Our study was designed to test the predictions emerging from the behavioral immune system theory (Ackerman et al, 2018).…”

Social distancing from foreign individuals as a disease-avoidance mechanism: Testing the assumptions of the behavioral immune system theory during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Similarly, Polish women reported higher levels of disgust sensitivity during the COVID-19 pandemic than during the pre-pandemic period (Miłkowska et al, 2021). Also, Croatians scored higher on PVD and pathogen disgust, as well as preferred greater interpersonal distances during the pandemic comparing to pre-pandemic samples, especially when living on the islands (Hromatko et al, 2021). Apparently, a highly salient disease threat (such as during a pan demic) has the power to increase the intensity of germ aversion and disgust sensitivity (see also Stevenson et al, 2021).…”

“…During the COVID-19 pandemic, topics of negative attitudes toward outgroups and the related social distancing tendencies have become important issues among scientists (e.g., Hromatko et al, 2021;Kramer & Bressan, 2021;Meleady et al, 2021;Sorokowski et al, 2020). One of the reasons for this intensified scientific interest is that social distancing, as well as the various factors that precede it, such as prejudices or xenophobic attitudes, have their origin in the perception of threat (Faulkner et al, 2004).…”

Unrealistic Optimism and Risk for COVID-19 Disease

“…), and unrealistic optimism may be contributing to poor decision making in many of these individuals. On the other side, one study has found that islandic, Croatian men scored higher on perceptions of infectability during the COVID-19 pandemic than before, while women did not, and the authors hypothesize that it may reflect the objectively higher risk of COVID-19 (Hromatko et al, 2021). This seems to suggest that at least some amount of increased personal risk for infection is acknowledged by higher-risk individuals during the current pandemic.…”