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Cited by 151Evolutionary Psychology and Human BehaviorCultural Differences and ValuesAnimal Behavior and Reproduction

Zoonotic and non-zoonotic diseases in relation to human personality and societal values: Support for the parasite-stress model

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Thornhill, Randy, Fincher, Corey L., Murray, Damian R., Schaller, Mark·2010·Evolutionary Psychology
DOI 10.1177/147470491000800201PMC PMC10480997
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Abstract

The parasite-stress model of human sociality proposes that humans' ontogenetic experiences with infectious diseases as well as their evolutionary historical interactions with these diseases exert causal influences on human psychology and social behavior. This model has been supported by cross-national relationships between parasite prevalence and human personality traits, and between parasite prevalence and societal values. Importantly, the parasite-stress model emphasizes the causal role of non-zoonotic parasites (which have the capacity for human-to-human transmission), rather than zoonotic parasites (which do not), but previous studies failed to distinguish between these conceptually distinct categories. The present investigation directly tested the differential predictive effects of zoonotic and non-zoonotic (both human-specific and multihost) parasite prevalence on personality traits and societal values. Supporting the parasite-stress model, cross-national differences in personality traits (unrestricted sexuality, extraversion, openness to experiences) and in societal values (individualism, collectivism, gender equality, democratization) are predicted specifically by non-zoonotic parasite prevalence.

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  • Gender inequality shows robust positive correlation with collectivism (negative with individualism).

    “Gender inequality, too, shows robust positive correlation with collectivism (negative with individualism) (Gelfand et al. 2004; Thornhill et al. 2009; 2010).”

    From Parasite-stress promotes in-group assortative sociality: The cases of strong family ties and heightened religiosity (2012) · cites this paper as Thornhill et al. 2010

    Materials and Methods (Measures of Societal Values; page unavailable) says a gender-equality measure correlated negatively with collectivism, supporting the opposite-direction claim for gender inequality. It describes individualism and collectivism as a single dimension, but does not report a direct correlation between gender inequality and individualism or quantify how robust that association is. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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  • Parasite-stress reduction may promote all aspects of democracy in a region, ranging from improved sanitation and health care, to civil rights and liberties, social and educational opportunities, private property rights, and gender equality.

    “Hence, parasite-stress reduction may promote all aspects of democracy in a region, ranging from improved sanitation and health care, to civil rights and liberties, social and educational opportunities, private property rights, and gender equality (Letendre et al. 2010; in press; Thornhill et al. 2009; 2010).”

    From Parasite-stress promotes in-group assortative sociality: The cases of strong family ties and heightened religiosity (2012) · cites this paper as Thornhill et al. 2010

    The Results report associations between non-zoonotic parasite richness and five democratization measures; the Methods describe measures covering civil liberties, resource distribution, property ownership and educational opportunities. The Introduction also links lower parasite prevalence with gender equality. But the Discussion describes sanitation and medical care as ways to reduce parasite stress, not as outcomes of that reduction, and the findings do not extend to all types of parasites. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Parasite-stress was positively associated with a measure of family ties across modern countries.

    “Thornhill et al. (2010) show as well that parasite-stress was positively associated with a measure of family ties across modern countries.”

    From Parasite-stress promotes in-group assortative sociality: The cases of strong family ties and heightened religiosity (2012) · cites this paper as Thornhill et al. 2010

  • Results from several initial studies support the parasite stress hypothesis of authoritarian governance.

    “Although results from several initial studies support this “parasite stress” hypothesis of authoritarian governance [7], [8]”

    From Pathogens and Politics: Further Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism (2013) · cites this paper as [8]

  • Infectious diseases that are transmissible between humans are more important for assortative sociality than human infectious diseases that are not transmitted between humans.

    “Thus, infectious diseases that are transmissible between humans are predicted to be more important for assortative sociality than human infectious diseases that are not transmitted between humans (Thornhill et al. 2010).”

    From Parasite-stress promotes in-group assortative sociality: The cases of strong family ties and heightened religiosity (2012) · cites this paper as Thornhill et al. 2010

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1 of the 57 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Hofstede G. (2001). Culture's consequences: comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

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Authors
Thornhill, R., Fincher, C. L., Murray, D. R., & Schaller, M.
Affiliations
  • University of New Mexico (US)
  • University of British Columbia (CA)
Corresponding author
Thornhill, Randy
ORCID
Venue
Evolutionary Psychology
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2010-04-01
Volume
8
Issue
2
Pages
151-169
ISSN
1474-7049 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1177/147470491000800201
PMC
PMC10480997
OpenAlex
W2113640193
Cited by
151
References
57
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 27 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 10
FWCI
10.83
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Evolutionary Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • University of Warwick (cc-by)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Cultural Differences and Values
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
Keywords
zoonotic parasites, parasite prevalence, personality traits, social values, human sociality, cross-national differences, individualism-collectivism, gender equality, democratization, extraversion, openness to experience, infectious disease exposure
MeSH terms
Animals, Communicable Diseases, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Female, Humans, Male, Models, Psychological, Parasitic Diseases, Personality, Surveys and Questionnaires, Sexual Behavior, Social Behavior, Stress, Psychological, Prevalence

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