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Samore T, Fessler DMT, Sparks AM, Holbrook C, Aarøe L, Baeza CG, Barbato MT, Barclay P, Berniūnas R, Contreras-Garduño J, Costa-Neves B, Del Pilar Grazioso M, Elmas P, Fedor P, Fernandez AM, Fernández-Morales R, Garcia-Marques L, Giraldo-Perez P, Gul P, Habacht F, Hasan Y, Hernandez EJ, Jarmakowski T, Kamble S, Kameda T, Kim B, Kupfer TR, Kurita M, Li NP, Lu J, Luberti FR, Maegli MA, Mejia M, Morvinski C, Naito A, Ng'ang'a A, de Oliveira AN, Posner DN, Prokop P, Shani Y, Solorzano WOP, Stieger S, Suryani AO, Tan LKL, Tybur JM, Viciana H, Visine A, Wang J, Wang XT. Greater traditionalism predicts COVID-19 precautionary behaviors across 27 societies. Sci Rep 2023; 13:4969. [PMID: 37041216 PMCID: PMC10090070 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-29655-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 04/13/2023] Open
Abstract
People vary both in their embrace of their society's traditions, and in their perception of hazards as salient and necessitating a response. Over evolutionary time, traditions have offered avenues for addressing hazards, plausibly resulting in linkages between orientations toward tradition and orientations toward danger. Emerging research documents connections between traditionalism and threat responsivity, including pathogen-avoidance motivations. Additionally, because hazard-mitigating behaviors can conflict with competing priorities, associations between traditionalism and pathogen avoidance may hinge on contextually contingent tradeoffs. The COVID-19 pandemic provides a real-world test of the posited relationship between traditionalism and hazard avoidance. Across 27 societies (N = 7844), we find that, in a majority of countries, individuals' endorsement of tradition positively correlates with their adherence to costly COVID-19-avoidance behaviors; accounting for some of the conflicts that arise between public health precautions and other objectives further strengthens this evidence that traditionalism is associated with greater attention to hazards.
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Affiliation(s)
- Theodore Samore
- Department of Anthropology, Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
| | - Daniel M T Fessler
- Department of Anthropology, Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture, Bedari Kindness Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | | | - Colin Holbrook
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced, CA, 95343, USA
| | - Lene Aarøe
- Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Carmen Gloria Baeza
- Laboratorio de Evolución y Relaciones Interpersonales, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - María Teresa Barbato
- Laboratorio de Evolución y Relaciones Interpersonales, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Pat Barclay
- Department of Psychology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada
| | | | - Jorge Contreras-Garduño
- Escuela Nacional de Estudio Superiores, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Unidad Morelia, 58190, Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico
| | - Bernardo Costa-Neves
- Lisbon Medical School, University of Lisbon, 1649-028, Lisbon, Portugal
- Centro Hospitalar Psiquiátrico de Lisboa, 1749-002, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Maria Del Pilar Grazioso
- Centro Integral de Psicología Aplicada, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Guatemala City, 01015, Guatemala
- Proyecto Aiglé Guatemala, Guatemala City, Guatemala
| | - Pınar Elmas
- Department of Psychology, Adnan Menderes University, Aydın, Turkey
| | - Peter Fedor
- Department of Environmental Ecology and Landscape Management, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, 842 15, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Ana Maria Fernandez
- Laboratorio de Evolución y Relaciones Interpersonales, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Regina Fernández-Morales
- Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad Rafael Landivár, Guatemala City, 01016, Guatemala
- Departamento de Psicología, Universidad Francisco Marroquín, Guatemala City, Guatemala
| | - Leonel Garcia-Marques
- CICPsi Research Center for Psychological Science, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
- School of Psychology, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Paulina Giraldo-Perez
- The School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand
| | - Pelin Gul
- Department of Sustainable Health, University of Groningen, Campus Fryslân, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Fanny Habacht
- Division of Psychological Methodology, Department of Psychology and Psychodynamics, Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences, Krems an der Donau, Austria
| | - Youssef Hasan
- Psychology Program, Department of Social Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, 2713, Doha, Qatar
| | - Earl John Hernandez
- College of Arts and Sciences, Partido State University, Goa, 4422, Camarines Sur, Philippines
| | - Tomasz Jarmakowski
- Institute of Psychology, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, 87-100, Toruń, Poland
| | - Shanmukh Kamble
- Department of Psychology, Karnatak University, Dharwad, Karnataka, 580003, India
| | - Tatsuya Kameda
- Department of Social Psychology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan
- Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Tokyo, 194-8610, Japan
- Center for Experimental Research in Social Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan
| | - Bia Kim
- Department of Psychology, Pusan National University, Busan, South Korea
| | - Tom R Kupfer
- Department of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, NG1 4FQ, UK
| | - Maho Kurita
- Department of Social Psychology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan
| | - Norman P Li
- School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University, Singapore, 188065, Singapore
| | - Junsong Lu
- School of Humanities and Social Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), Shenzhen, 518172, China
| | - Francesca R Luberti
- Department of Psychology, Nipissing University, North Bay, ON, P1B 8L7, Canada
| | - María Andrée Maegli
- Department of Psychology, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Guatemala City, 01015, Guatemala
| | | | - Coby Morvinski
- Department of Management, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er Sheva, Israel
| | - Aoi Naito
- Department of Social Psychology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, 102-0083, Japan
| | - Alice Ng'ang'a
- Lazaridis School of Business and Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3C5, Canada
| | | | - Daniel N Posner
- Department of Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Pavol Prokop
- Department of Environmental Ecology and Landscape Management, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, 842 15, Bratislava, Slovakia
- Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 845 06, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Yaniv Shani
- Coller School of Management, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | | | - Stefan Stieger
- Division of Psychological Methodology, Department of Psychology and Psychodynamics, Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences, Krems an der Donau, Austria
| | | | - Lynn K L Tan
- School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University, Singapore, 188065, Singapore
| | - Joshua M Tybur
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands
| | - Hugo Viciana
- Departamento de Filosofía y Lógica y Filosofía de la Ciencia, Universidad de Sevilla, 41018, Seville, Spain
| | | | - Jin Wang
- School of Humanities and Social Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), Shenzhen, 518172, China
| | - Xiao-Tian Wang
- School of Humanities and Social Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), Shenzhen, 518172, China
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Holbrook C, Fessler DMT, Sparks AM, Johnson DL, Samore T, Reed LI. Coalitionality shapes moral elevation: evidence from the U.S. Black Lives Matter protest and counter-protest movements. R Soc Open Sci 2023; 10:220990. [PMID: 36998761 PMCID: PMC10049748 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Witnessing altruistic behaviour can elicit moral elevation, an emotion that motivates prosocial cooperation. This emotion is evoked more strongly when the observer anticipates that other people will be reciprocally cooperative. Coalitionality should therefore moderate feelings of elevation, as whether the observer shares the coalitional affiliation of those observed should influence the observer's assessment of the likelihood that the latter will cooperate with the observer. We examined this thesis in studies contemporaneous with the 2020 Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests. Although BLM protests were predominantly peaceful, they were depicted by conservative media as destructive and antisocial. In two large-scale, pre-registered online studies (total N = 2172), political orientation strongly moderated feelings of state elevation elicited by a video of a peaceful BLM protest (Studies 1 and 2) or a peaceful Back the Blue (BtB) counter-protest (Study 2). Political conservatism predicted less elevation following the BLM video and more elevation following the BtB video. Elevation elicited by the BLM video correlated with preferences to defund police, whereas elevation elicited by the BtB video correlated with preferences to increase police funding. These findings extend prior work on elevation into the area of prosocial cooperation in the context of coalitional conflict.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin Holbrook
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA
| | - Daniel M. T. Fessler
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Kindness Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | | | - Devin L. Johnson
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, ON, Canada L8S4K1
| | - Theodore Samore
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
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Kupfer TR, Fessler DMT, Wu B, Hwang T, Sparks AM, Alas S, Samore T, Lal V, Sakhamuru TP, Holbrook C. The skin crawls, the stomach turns: ectoparasites and pathogens elicit distinct defensive responses in humans. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20210376. [PMID: 34315263 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.0376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Disgust has long been viewed as a primary motivator of defensive responses to threats posed by both microscopic pathogens and macroscopic ectoparasites. Although disgust can defend effectively against pathogens encountered through ingestion or incidental contact, it offers limited protection against ectoparasites, which actively pursue a host and attach to its surface. Humans might, therefore, possess a distinct ectoparasite defence system-including cutaneous sensory mechanisms and grooming behaviours-functionally suited to guard the body's surface. In two US studies and one in China, participants (N = 1079) viewed a range of ectoparasite- and pathogen-relevant video stimuli and reported their feelings, physiological sensations, and behavioural motivations. Participants reported more surface-guarding responses towards ectoparasite stimuli than towards pathogen stimuli, and more ingestion/contamination-reduction responses towards pathogen stimuli than towards ectoparasite stimuli. Like other species, humans appear to possess evolved psychobehavioural ectoparasite defence mechanisms that are distinct from pathogen defence mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tom R Kupfer
- Department of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham NG1 4FQ, UK.,Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Daniel M T Fessler
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.,UCLA Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1553, USA.,UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Bozhi Wu
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Tiffany Hwang
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.,Center for Data Sciences, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Adam Maxwell Sparks
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.,UCLA Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1553, USA.,Department of Psychology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada
| | - Sonia Alas
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Theodore Samore
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.,UCLA Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1553, USA
| | - Vedika Lal
- Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Tanvi P Sakhamuru
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.,University of California, Davis School of Law
| | - Colin Holbrook
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA 95343, USA
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Samore T, Fessler DMT, Sparks AM, Holbrook C. Of pathogens and party lines: Social conservatism positively associates with COVID-19 precautions among U.S. Democrats but not Republicans. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0253326. [PMID: 34185786 PMCID: PMC8241032 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2021] [Accepted: 06/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Social liberals tend to be less pathogen-avoidant than social conservatives, a pattern consistent with a model wherein ideological differences stem from differences in threat reactivity. Here we investigate if and how individual responses to a shared threat reflect those patterns of ideological difference. In seeming contradiction to the general association between social conservatism and pathogen avoidance, the more socially conservative political party in the United States has more consistently downplayed the dangers of COVID-19 during the ongoing pandemic. This puzzle offers an opportunity to examine the contributions of multiple factors to disease avoidance. We investigated the relationship between social conservatism and COVID-19 precautionary behavior in light of the partisan landscape of the United States. We explored whether consumption of, and attitudes toward, different sources of information, as well as differential evaluation of various threats caused by the pandemic-such as direct health costs versus indirect harms to the economy and individual liberties-shape partisan differences in responses to the pandemic in ways that overwhelm the contributions of social conservatism. In two pre-registered studies, socially conservative attitudes correlate with self-reported COVID-19 prophylactic behaviors, but only among Democrats. Reflecting larger societal divisions, among Republicans and Independents, the absence of a positive relationship between social conservatism and COVID-19 precautions appears driven by lower trust in scientists, lower trust in liberal and moderate sources, lesser consumption of liberal news media, and greater economic conservatism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Theodore Samore
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
- UCLA Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
| | - Daniel M. T. Fessler
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
- UCLA Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
- UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
| | | | - Colin Holbrook
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced, California, United States of America
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5
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Samore T, Fessler DMT, Sparks AM, Holbrook C. Of pathogens and party lines: Social conservatism positively associates with COVID-19 precautions among U.S. Democrats but not Republicans. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0253326. [PMID: 34185786 DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/9zsvb] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2021] [Accepted: 06/03/2021] [Indexed: 05/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Social liberals tend to be less pathogen-avoidant than social conservatives, a pattern consistent with a model wherein ideological differences stem from differences in threat reactivity. Here we investigate if and how individual responses to a shared threat reflect those patterns of ideological difference. In seeming contradiction to the general association between social conservatism and pathogen avoidance, the more socially conservative political party in the United States has more consistently downplayed the dangers of COVID-19 during the ongoing pandemic. This puzzle offers an opportunity to examine the contributions of multiple factors to disease avoidance. We investigated the relationship between social conservatism and COVID-19 precautionary behavior in light of the partisan landscape of the United States. We explored whether consumption of, and attitudes toward, different sources of information, as well as differential evaluation of various threats caused by the pandemic-such as direct health costs versus indirect harms to the economy and individual liberties-shape partisan differences in responses to the pandemic in ways that overwhelm the contributions of social conservatism. In two pre-registered studies, socially conservative attitudes correlate with self-reported COVID-19 prophylactic behaviors, but only among Democrats. Reflecting larger societal divisions, among Republicans and Independents, the absence of a positive relationship between social conservatism and COVID-19 precautions appears driven by lower trust in scientists, lower trust in liberal and moderate sources, lesser consumption of liberal news media, and greater economic conservatism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Theodore Samore
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
- UCLA Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
| | - Daniel M T Fessler
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
- UCLA Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
- UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
| | | | - Colin Holbrook
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced, California, United States of America
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Dishakjian V, Fessler DMT, Sparks AM. Live fast, die young and sleep later: Life history strategy and human sleep behavior. Evol Med Public Health 2020; 9:36-52. [PMID: 33738102 PMCID: PMC7953418 DOI: 10.1093/emph/eoaa048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2020] [Accepted: 11/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Background and objectives Life History Theory (LHT) describes trade-offs that organisms make with regard to three investment pathways: growth, maintenance and reproduction. In light of the reparative functions of sleep, we examine sleep behaviors and corresponding attitudes as proximate manifestations of an individual's underlying relative prioritization of short-term reproduction versus long-term maintenance. Methodology We collected survey data from 568 participants across two online studies having different participant pools. We use a mixture of segmented and hierarchical regression models, structural equation modeling and machine learning to infer relationships between sleep duration/quality, attitudes about sleep and biodemographic/psychometric measures of life history strategy (LHS). Results An age-mediated U- or V-shaped relationship appears when LHS is plotted against habitual sleep duration, with the fastest strategies occupying the sections of the curve with the highest mortality risk: < 6.5 hr (short sleep) and > 8.5 hr (long sleep). LH 'fastness' is associated with increased sleepiness and worse overall sleep quality: delayed sleep onset latency, more wakefulness after sleep onset, higher sleep-wake instability and greater sleep duration variability. Hedonic valuations of sleep may mediate the effects of LHS on certain sleep parameters. Conclusions and implications The costs of deprioritizing maintenance can be parameterized in the domain of sleep, where 'life history fastness' corresponds with sleep patterns associated with greater senescence and mortality. Individual differences in sleep having significant health implications can thus be understood as components of lifelong trajectories likely stemming from calibration to developmental circumstances. Relatedly, hedonic valuations of sleep may constitute useful avenues for non-pharmacological management of chronic sleep disorders.Lay Summary: Sleep is essential because it allows the body to repair and maintain itself. But time spent sleeping is time that cannot be spent doing other things. People differ in how much they prioritize immediate rewards, including sociosexual opportunities, versus long-term goals. In this research, we show that individual differences in sleep behaviors, and attitudes toward sleep, correspond with psychological and behavioral differences reflecting such differing priorities. Orientation toward sleep can thus be understood as part of the overall lifetime strategies that people pursue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vahe Dishakjian
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Daniel M T Fessler
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Bedari Kindness Institute, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Adam Maxwell Sparks
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Froy H, Sparks AM, Watt K, Sinclair R, Bach F, Pilkington JG, Pemberton JM, McNeilly TN, Nussey DH. Senescence in immunity against helminth parasites predicts adult mortality in a wild mammal. Science 2020; 365:1296-1298. [PMID: 31604239 DOI: 10.1126/science.aaw5822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2019] [Accepted: 07/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Our understanding of the deterioration in immune function in old age-immunosenescence-derives principally from studies of modern human populations and laboratory animals. The generality and significance of this process for systems experiencing complex, natural infections and environmental challenges are unknown. Here, we show that late-life declines in an important immune marker of resistance to helminth parasites in wild Soay sheep predict overwinter mortality. We found senescence in circulating antibody levels against a highly prevalent nematode worm, which was associated with reduced adult survival probability, independent of changes in body weight. These findings establish a role for immunosenescence in the ecology and evolution of natural populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Froy
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. .,Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - A M Sparks
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.,School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
| | - K Watt
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - R Sinclair
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - F Bach
- Institute of Immunology and Infection Research, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - J G Pilkington
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - J M Pemberton
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - T N McNeilly
- Moredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Bush Loan, Penicuik, UK
| | - D H Nussey
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
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Sparks AM, Fessler DMT, Holbrook C. Elevation, an emotion for prosocial contagion, is experienced more strongly by those with greater expectations of the cooperativeness of others. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0226071. [PMID: 31800639 PMCID: PMC6892489 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2019] [Accepted: 11/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
A unique emotion, elevation, is thought to underlie prosocial contagion, a process whereby witnessing a prosocial act leads to acting prosocially. Individuals differ in their propensity to experience elevation, and thus their proneness to prosocial contagion, but little is known about the causes of such variation. We introduce an adaptationist model wherein elevation marks immediate circumstances in which generalized prosociality is advantageous, with this evaluation of circumstances hinging in part on prior expectations of others' prosociality. In 15 studies, we add to evidence that elevation can reliably be elicited and mediates prosocial contagion. Importantly, we confirm a novel prediction-generated by our adaptationist account-that an idealistic attitude, which indexes others' expected degree of prosociality, moderates the relationship between exposure to prosocial cues and experiencing elevation. We discuss how our findings inform both basic theorizing in the affective sciences and translational efforts to engineer a more harmonious world, and we offer future research directions to further test and extend our model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Maxwell Sparks
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
- Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
| | - Daniel M. T. Fessler
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
- Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
- Bedari Kindness Institute, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
| | - Colin Holbrook
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
- Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California Merced, Merced, California, United States of America
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9
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Abstract
Fitness is enhanced by determining when to behave prosocially. Elevation, an uplifting emotion elicited by witnessing exemplary prosociality, upregulates prosociality in the presence of prosocial others, as such contexts render prosociality profitable and/or antisociality costly. Prior research examines responses to a single highly prosocial individual. However, the profitability of enhancing prosociality hinges not only on potential interactions with a single actor, but also on the actions of others. Accordingly, information regarding how others respond to the prosocial exemplar may influence elevation elicitation and corresponding changes in prosocial motivation. If others reciprocate the exemplar's prosociality, or pay prosociality forward, this expands opportunities for the observer to profit by increasing prosociality, and thus could enhance elevation elicitation. Conversely, if others exploit the exemplar, this may diminish the profitability of prosociality, as the observer who acts prosocially may similarly be exploited and/or the resources with which the exemplar could reciprocate will be depleted. Conducting three online studies of Americans in which information regarding the responses of others to a prosocial exemplar was manipulated, we find that, against predictions, prosocial responses by the beneficiaries of prosociality generally do not enhance elevation among observers, whereas, consonant with predictions, antisocial responses markedly diminish elevation among observers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel M.T. Fessler
- Department of Anthropology and Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Adam Maxwell Sparks
- Department of Anthropology and Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Theodore Samore
- Department of Anthropology and Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Colin Holbrook
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced, Merced, California, USA
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10
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Abstract
Who takes risks, and when? The relative state model proposes two non-independent selection pressures governing risk-taking: need-based and ability-based. The need-based account suggests that actors take risks when they cannot reach target states with low-risk options (consistent with risk-sensitivity theory). The ability-based account suggests that actors engage in risk-taking when they possess traits or abilities that increase the expected value of risk-taking (by increasing the probability of success, enhancing payoffs for success or buffering against failure). Adaptive risk-taking involves integrating both considerations. Risk-takers compute the expected value of risk-taking based on their state-the interaction of embodied capital relative to one's situation, to the same individual in other circumstances or to other individuals. We provide mathematical support for this dual pathway model, and show that it can predict who will take the most risks and when (e.g. when risk-taking will be performed by those in good, poor, intermediate or extreme state only). Results confirm and elaborate on the initial verbal model of state-dependent risk-taking: selection favours agents who calibrate risk-taking based on implicit computations of condition and/or competitive (dis)advantage, which in turn drives patterned individual differences in risk-taking behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pat Barclay
- Department of Psychology, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1
| | - Sandeep Mishra
- Faculty of Business Administration, University of Regina, Regina, Canada
| | - Adam Maxwell Sparks
- Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture and Department of Anthropology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Abstract
Conservatives and liberals have previously been shown to differ in the propensity to view socially-transmitted information about hazards as more plausible than that concerning benefits. Given differences between conservatives and liberals in threat sensitivity and dangerous-world beliefs, correlations between political orientation and negatively-biased credulity may thus reflect endogenous mindsets. Alternatively, such results may owe to the political hierarchy at the time of previous research, as the tendency to see dark forces at work is thought to be greater among those who are out of political power. Adjudicating between these accounts can inform how societies respond to the challenge of alarmist disinformation campaigns. We exploit the consequences of the 2016 U.S. elections to test these competing explanations of differences in negatively-biased credulity and conspiracism as a function of political orientation. Two studies of Americans reveal continued positive associations between conservatism, negatively-biased credulity, and conspiracism despite changes to the power structure in conservatives’ favor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Theodore Samore
- Department of Anthropology and Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Daniel M. T. Fessler
- Department of Anthropology and Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
| | - Colin Holbrook
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California Merced, Merced, California, United States of America
| | - Adam Maxwell Sparks
- Department of Anthropology and Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
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Sparks AM, Fessler DMT, Chan KQ, Ashokkumar A, Holbrook C. Disgust as a mechanism for decision making under risk: Illuminating sex differences and individual risk-taking correlates of disgust propensity. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018; 18:942-958. [PMID: 29389205 DOI: 10.1037/emo0000389] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The emotion disgust motivates costly behavioral strategies that mitigate against potentially larger costs associated with pathogens, sexual behavior, and moral transgressions. Because disgust thereby regulates exposure to harm, it is by definition a mechanism for calibrating decision making under risk. Understanding this illuminates two features of the demographic distribution of this emotion. First, this approach predicts and explains sex differences in disgust. Greater female disgust propensity is often reported and discussed in the literature, but, to date, conclusions have been based on informal comparisons across a small number of studies, while existing functionalist explanations are at best incomplete. We report the results of an extensive meta-analysis documenting this sex difference, arguing that key features of this pattern are best explained as one manifestation of a broad principle of the evolutionary biology of risk-taking: for a given potential benefit, males in an effectively polygynous mating system accept the risk of harm more willingly than do females. Second, viewing disgust as a mechanism for decision making under risk likewise predicts that individual differences in disgust propensity should correlate with individual differences in various forms of risky behavior, because situational and dispositional factors that influence valuation of opportunity and hazard are often correlated across multiple decision contexts. In two large-sample online studies, we find consistent associations between disgust and risk avoidance. We conclude that disgust and related emotions can be usefully examined through the theoretical lens of decision making under risk in light of human evolution. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Maxwell Sparks
- Department of Anthropology, and Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, University of California, Los Angeles
| | - Daniel M T Fessler
- Department of Anthropology, and Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, University of California, Los Angeles
| | | | | | - Colin Holbrook
- Department of Anthropology, and Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture, University of California, Los Angeles
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