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Bastian B, Vauclair CM, Loughnan S, Bain P, Ashokkumar A, Becker M, Bilewicz M, Collier-Baker E, Crespo C, Eastwick PW, Fischer R, Friese M, Gómez Á, Guerra VM, Guevara JLC, Hanke K, Hooper N, Huang LL, Junqi S, Karasawa M, Kuppens P, Leknes S, Peker M, Pelay C, Pina A, Sachkova M, Saguy T, Silfver-Kuhalampi M, Sortheix F, Tong J, Yeung VWL, Duffy J, Swann WB. Explaining illness with evil: pathogen prevalence fosters moral vitalism. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20191576. [PMID: 31662082 PMCID: PMC6842846 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.1576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2019] [Accepted: 10/02/2019] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Pathogens represent a significant threat to human health leading to the emergence of strategies designed to help manage their negative impact. We examined how spiritual beliefs developed to explain and predict the devastating effects of pathogens and spread of infectious disease. Analysis of existing data in studies 1 and 2 suggests that moral vitalism (beliefs about spiritual forces of evil) is higher in geographical regions characterized by historical higher levels of pathogens. Furthermore, drawing on a sample of 3140 participants from 28 countries in study 3, we found that historical higher levels of pathogens were associated with stronger endorsement of moral vitalistic beliefs. Furthermore, endorsement of moral vitalistic beliefs statistically mediated the previously reported relationship between pathogen prevalence and conservative ideologies, suggesting these beliefs reinforce behavioural strategies which function to prevent infection. We conclude that moral vitalism may be adaptive: by emphasizing concerns over contagion, it provided an explanatory model that enabled human groups to reduce rates of contagious disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brock Bastian
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | | | - Steve Loughnan
- School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Paul Bain
- Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, Somerset, UK
| | - Ashwini Ashokkumar
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Maja Becker
- CLLE, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UT2J, Toulouse, Midi-Pyrénées, France
| | - Michał Bilewicz
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Warsaw, Warszawa, Poland
| | - Emma Collier-Baker
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Forest, Nature and Environment Aceh, Banda Aceh City, Aceh, Indonesia
| | - Carla Crespo
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Lisbon, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Paul W. Eastwick
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Ronald Fischer
- School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Malte Friese
- Department of Psychology, Saarland University, Saarbrucken, Saarland, Germany
| | - Ángel Gómez
- Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia, Madrid, Spain
| | - Valeschka M. Guerra
- Department of Psychology, Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo, Vitoria, Brazil
| | | | - Katja Hanke
- University of Applied Management Studies, Mannheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
| | - Nic Hooper
- Health and Social Sciences, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK
| | - Li-Li Huang
- School of Economics and Management, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, Republic of China
| | - Shi Junqi
- Lingnan College, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China
| | - Minoru Karasawa
- Department of Psychology, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Peter Kuppens
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Leuven, Leuven, Flanders, Belgium
| | - Siri Leknes
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Müjde Peker
- Department of Psychology, MEF University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Cesar Pelay
- Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Distrito Capital, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
| | - Afroditi Pina
- School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK
| | - Marianna Sachkova
- Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Moskva, Russian Federation
| | - Tamar Saguy
- Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, Herzliya, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | | | - Florencia Sortheix
- Swedish School of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jennifer Tong
- School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Victoria Wai-lan Yeung
- Department of Applied Psychology, Lingnan University, New Territories, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Jacob Duffy
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - William B. Swann
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
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