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fear of infection affects sex, lowers attraction
disgust motivates people to stay away from each other. and guys are less likely to have clean hands.
apr 20 2020
2 minute read
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when battling infections and covid-19, our immune systems aren’t the body’s only defence. taking the proper steps to wash our hands, and covering our mouths when we cough or sneeze are also important too.
taking these protective measures are part of what’s known as the ‘behavioural immune system’, which is our internal, emotionally driven defence system according to carolyn hodges-simeon, an evolutionary anthropologist and assistant professor of anthropology at boston university’s college of arts & sciences in an interview with the brink . she explained that these behavioural immune responses are triggered by a number of factors including the environment, health conditions, age, gender and interestingly — our ability to be “grossed out.”
“we often assume that disgust has an important evolutionary function to avoid things that might harm us,” hodges-simeon told the brink . “so, individual disgust sensitivity should be, if it’s evolved to solve a problem, higher when the risk of an infection is also higher.”
hodges-simeon worked with a team of researchers to determine whether disgust is a motivator for people to avoid contact with others in order to reduce the risk for infection. the brink reports that the team ran two studies using an online platform: one survey that was distributed to the u.s., el salvador and india before the pandemic, and one that was circulated after the pandemic began to participants in the u.s., india, brazil and italy.
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in each survey, participants were asked to rank their feelings of disgust on a scale from zero to six, with six being the most grossed out. this gave the team an idea of how the perceived risk of infection impacts a person’s feelings of disgust, both pre- and post pandemic outbreak. from their findings, the team noticed four key takeaways that demonstrate how behavioural immune responses impact our decisions to protect ourselves.
researchers found that after the pandemic began, the perceived risks for infection was a great indicator of predicted disgust sensitivity. the greater the risk for infection, the greater the disgust could become.
“after the covid outbreak, people perceived their risk of infection to be higher, and accordingly their disgust levels were higher. so, people became more grossed out by basic things like a chewed up pencil or dog doo now than they were before,” hodges-simeon told the brink. the team added that disgust can cause uncontrollable physical reactions in our bodies, complete with emotions and facial expressions similar to fear.
the team also found that people are more prone to take protective measures to reduce the risk from infection. simple things like sharing a water bottle or shaking hands appeared to be more disgusting. they found that up to 20 per cent of people reported feeling the urge to wash their hands after shaking someone else’s hand. but interestingly, growing disgust also appears to include sexual desires as well. researchers saw that respondents were reporting lower sexual desire and less casual sex, trading it off in an effort to protect their health.
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overall, men appeared to be less likely to feel disgusted compared to women, and are less likely to practice cleanliness habits like washing hands to prevent the spread of germs. they also tend to view themselves healthier than women. “so, if we’re thinking about the group that’s least likely to comply [with social distancing measures],” said hodges-simeon. “it’s young adult males who perceive themselves in good health.”
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