About ten years ago, evolutionary psychologists suggested that humans actually have not one but two immune systems. In addition to the well-known one - the one that is responsible for the internal defense of the body against pathogens, there is also the external one. It was called the behavioral immune system. It is believed that this system is unconsciously activated when, when interacting with the outside world, we face the threat of contracting a particular disease.
Of course, a person cannot see bacteria or viruses with the naked eye. Instead, it is able to identify signals from another person (such as coughs, unpleasant odors, or skin lesions) that warn of danger.
But it is possible that the behavioral immune system, despite all the obvious benefits, does us harm. In particular, it interferes with the establishment of social ties.
Researchers from McGill University (Canada) have found that activating the "front line" leads to the formation of a bias towards the person from whom the threat signal comes.
The authors decided to find out what happens when two fundamental and in this case competing desires are simultaneously activated - to find a partner for a relationship (and, possibly, procreation) and to protect themselves from the disease.
Experts conducted a test among young heterosexual people aged 18 to 35 years old, some of whom met on the Internet (66 people), and some in real life - on express dates (121 people).
It turned out that in the latter case, the behavioral immune system played a cruel joke with guys and girls much more often. When it was activated, in 80% of cases it automatically inhibited the incentive to continue communication, even when the volunteers rated the partner's attractiveness very high.
“We didn't expect this to happen in real life situations, where people are usually motivated to form new social bonds,” says lead author Natsumi Sawada.
Promotional video:
According to her, in addition to how people unconsciously and consciously relate to each other, there are other important factors that affect the development of relationships. One of them, as it turned out, is the fear of illness.
Interestingly, the degree of activation of the behavioral defense system depends on how susceptible a person is to a disease that potentially threatens him. According to this principle, a “scale of potential vulnerability” was developed, which determines to what extent the protective mechanism will manifest itself. For example, in one case, an external signal of danger can cause slight irritation, and in the other, irrevocable disgust, psychologists explain.
For more details on this work, see an article that was published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Yulia Vorobyova
