Here be dragons


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Local parasite types and hosts defense systems will typically be involved in a co‐evolutionary arms race, and so at any given time a host's immunological defenses will be specialized to be most effective against local parasite species.

To the extent that a host defense system is specialized locally, contact with out‐groups will be associated with an increased risk of exposure to infectious diseases against which there is no a priori immunity. 

The relevant infection‐avoiding behaviors such as avoidance of strangers and high conscientiousness in, for example, food preparation, are assumed to arise from the operation of a “behavioral immune system.”


[Gordon D. A. Brown, Corey L. Fincher, and Lukasz Walasek]
'Personality, Parasites, Political Attitudes, and Cooperation: A Model of How Infection Prevalence Influences Openness and Social Group Formation'


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Within the psychological sciences, there is extensive research linking the behavioral immune system to a variety of prejudices—including prejudices against people who aren't actually diseased but are simply characterized by some sort of visual characteristics that deviate from those of a subjectively prototypical human being.

The disease–avoidant processes that characterize the behavioral immune system have been shown to contribute to prejudices against obese individuals, elderly individuals, and people with physical disfigurements or disabilities.

In addition, the behavioral immune system appears to contribute to xenophobia and ethnocentrism. 

One implication is that these prejudices tend to be exaggerated under conditions in which people feel especially vulnerable to the potential transmission of infectious diseases.

'Behavioural immune system'


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