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https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-014-9217-0

has been cited by the following article:

• TITLE: Collectivistic Norms Facilitate Cooperation but Not Prejudice during a Pandemic

  AUTHORS: Nan Zhu, Huijing Lu, Lei Chang

  KEYWORDS: Behavioral Immune System, Collectivism, Pathogen Prevalence, Parasite Stress Theory, Prejudice

  JOURNAL NAME: Psychology, Vol.11 No.12, December 14, 2020

  ABSTRACT: As the world grapples with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it is ever more critical to understand how pathogens affect human social behaviors and attitudes. We review recent evidence for the parasite stress theory, which posits that pathogen threats may have led to psychological and cultural adaptations in terms of collectivism and outgroup prejudice. Although there is strong literature support that behavioral immune responses might have contributed to collectivistic norms, the link between pathogen prevalence and outgroup prejudice is less clear. To explain this, we proposed a new hypothesis, arguing that outgroup prejudice as an undesirable side effect of behavioral immune systems might be curtailed by collectivistic norms and centralized authorities, which, in turn, reflect cultural adaptations to cooperation in high-pathogen environments. This perspective provides novel explanations of the cultural difference in the phenomena of xenophobia and racial prejudice during pandemics.