Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-09-infectious-disease-linked-authoritarian-attitudes.html
September 21, 2021
Rates of infectious disease linked to authoritarian attitudes and governance: study
by University of Cambridge
According to psychologists, in addition to our physiological immune system we also have a behavioral one: an unconscious code of conduct that helps us stay disease-free, including a fear and avoidance of unfamiliar—and so possibly infected—people.
When infection risk is high, this "parasite stress" behavior increases, potentially manifesting as attitudes and even voting patterns that champion conformity and reject "foreign outgroups"—a core trait of authoritarian politics.
Now, a new study, the largest yet to investigate links between pathogen prevalence and ideology, reveals a strong connection between infection rates and strains of authoritarianism in public attitudes, political leadership and even lawmaking.
While data used for the study predates COVID-19, University of Cambridge psychologists say that greater public desire for "conformity and obedience" as a result of the pandemic could ultimately see liberal politics suffer at the ballot box. The findings are published in the Journal of Social and Political Psychology.
Researchers used infectious disease data from the United States in the 1990s and 2000s and responses to a psychological survey taken by over 206,000 people in the US during 2017 and 2018. They found that the more infectious US cities and states went on to have more authoritarian-leaning citizens.
The US findings were replicated at an international level using survey data from over 51,000 people across 47 different countries, comparing responses with national-level disease rates.
The most authoritarian US states had rates of infectious diseases—from HIV to measles—around four times higher than the least authoritarian states, while for the most authoritarian nations it was three times higher than the least....
September 21, 2021
Rates of infectious disease linked to authoritarian attitudes and governance: study
by University of Cambridge
According to psychologists, in addition to our physiological immune system we also have a behavioral one: an unconscious code of conduct that helps us stay disease-free, including a fear and avoidance of unfamiliar—and so possibly infected—people.
When infection risk is high, this "parasite stress" behavior increases, potentially manifesting as attitudes and even voting patterns that champion conformity and reject "foreign outgroups"—a core trait of authoritarian politics.
Now, a new study, the largest yet to investigate links between pathogen prevalence and ideology, reveals a strong connection between infection rates and strains of authoritarianism in public attitudes, political leadership and even lawmaking.
While data used for the study predates COVID-19, University of Cambridge psychologists say that greater public desire for "conformity and obedience" as a result of the pandemic could ultimately see liberal politics suffer at the ballot box. The findings are published in the Journal of Social and Political Psychology.
Researchers used infectious disease data from the United States in the 1990s and 2000s and responses to a psychological survey taken by over 206,000 people in the US during 2017 and 2018. They found that the more infectious US cities and states went on to have more authoritarian-leaning citizens.
The US findings were replicated at an international level using survey data from over 51,000 people across 47 different countries, comparing responses with national-level disease rates.
The most authoritarian US states had rates of infectious diseases—from HIV to measles—around four times higher than the least authoritarian states, while for the most authoritarian nations it was three times higher than the least....