The behavioral immune system: Current concerns and future directions

Abstract

The behavioral immune system is a motivational system that helps minimize infection risk by changing cognition, affect, and behavior in ways that promote pathogen avoidance. In the current paper, we review foundational concepts of the behavioral immune system and provide a brief summary of recent social psychological research on this topic. Next, we highlight current conceptual and empirical limitations of this work and delineate important questions that have the potential to drive major advances in the field. These questions include predicting the ontological development of the behavioral immune system, specifying the relationship between this system and the physiological immune system, and distinguishing conditions that elicit direct effects of situational pathogen threats versus effects that occur only in interaction with dispositional disease concerns. This discussion highlights significant challenges and underexplored topics to be addressed by the next generation of behavioral immune system research.

The Role of Age and Gender in Perceived Vulnerability to Infectious Diseases

“…Therefore, our study suggests a link between the biological and the behavioral immune systems, where germ aversion in both men and women, and perceived infectability in women over 50 years of age confirm "the compensatory behavioral prophylaxis hypothesis" [5] and partially support the existence of an integrated immune system [4]. Furthermore, our results represent a significant step forward in two of the main issues in the study of the behavioral immune system proposed by Ackeman et al [43], namely, the linking the biological and behavioral immune systems and the study of the evolution of the behavioral immune system throughout life.…”

Interdependent Self-Construal Predicts Reduced Sensitivity to Norms Under Pathogen Threat: An Electrocortical Investigation

“…In doing so, we built on earlier work highlighting the effects of a particular external threat-concerns about pathogen exposure (Hill et al, 2015;Mortensen et al, 2010). Pathogen threat is typically invisible, yet potentially deadly, and has been one of the most impactful dangers across human history (Ackerman et al, 2018). Thus, it is suitable as a domain of interest in an initial inquiry into the effect of threat on two neural responses to norm-violations (N400 and the upper α-band suppression).…”

“…Moreover, interdependence may defray the impact of all such threats. At the same time, the threat of pathogen contamination may be unique in numerous ways (Ackerman et al, 2018;Sng et al, 2018). Indeed, other threats such as warfare and resource scarcity may also be unique in theoretically meaningful ways.…”

Why inflammation and the activities of the immune system matter for social and personality psychology (and not only for those who study health)

“…In one line of research inquiry, for example, researchers have begun to investigate the possibility of a bidirectional relationship between the activities of the immune system and pathogen avoidance motivations (e.g., Ackerman, Hill, & Murray, ; Bradshaw et al, under review; Fessler et al, ; Fleischman & Fessler, ; Gassen et al, ). According to this perspective, the immune system and the nervous system work together to help keep people safe from illness and disease, with pathogen avoidance motivations changing in response to changes in immunological activity and vice versa.…”

“…In one line of research inquiry, for example, researchers have begun to investigate the possibility of a bidirectional relationship between the activities of the immune system and pathogen avoidance motivations (e.g., Ackerman, Hill, & Murray, 2018;Bradshaw et al, under review;Fessler et al, 2005;Fleischman & Fessler, 2011;Gassen et al, 2018).…”