AI Article Synopsis
- An evolutionary perspective on stigmatization indicates that our instincts to avoid disease can lead to social exclusion of individuals who show health issues.
- In experiments, it was found that people with visible health problems (like leprosy or obesity) caused more discomfort regarding physical contact compared to non-physical contact, while criminals elicited discomfort for both types.
- The final study confirmed that individuals with diseases elicit significantly more discomfort around physical contact than those with other forms of stigma.
Article Abstract
An evolutionary approach to stigmatization suggests that disease-avoidance processes contribute to some instances of social exclusion. Disease-avoidance processes are over-inclusive, targeting even non-threatening individuals who display cues of substandard health. We investigated whether such cues motivate avoidance of physical contact in particular. In Studies 1 and 2, targets with disease (e.g., leprosy) or atypical morphologies (e.g., amputated leg, obesity) were found to arouse differentially heightened discomfort with physical (versus nonphysical) contact, whereas a criminal target (stigmatized for disease-irrelevant reasons) was found to arouse elevated discomfort for both types of contact. Study 3 used a between-subjects design that eliminated the influence of extraneous factors. A diseased target was found to arouse differentially heightened discomfort with physical (versus nonphysical) contact, and to do so more strongly than any other type of target.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2012.721812 | DOI Listing |
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