Pathogens and Politics: Further Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism

In the paper

“(One additional threat—famine—also uniquely predicted authoritarianism.)”

In the paper

“Individual authoritarianism was also predicted by GDP per capita, GINI, Education, and Life Expectancy Residual (r's ranged from .36 to .68 in absolute value, all p's<.05).”

In the paper

“Results revealed that the predictive effects of the control variables were all statistically nonsignificant (absolute values of β’s<.32, p’s >.10), but that—despite relatively low statistical power—there was a significant unique effect of pathogen prevalence, β = .73 (p = .04).”

In the paper

“Results of all 4 mediation tests indicated that the relation between pathogen prevalence and authoritarian governance was significantly mediated by individual authoritarianism, with none of the bootstrapped confidence intervals containing zero.”

In the paper

“Both parasite stress measures were positive predictors of authoritarian governance (r's = .42 and .29, p's<.01).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [15] Cashdan E, Steele M (in press) Pathogen prevalence, group bias, and collectivism in the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample. Hum Nature. source
• Not checked yetcites [36] Low BS (1988) Pathogen stress and polygyny in humans. In: L Betzig, M. Borgerhoff Mulder, and P Turke editors. Human Reproductive Behavior: A Darwinian Perspective.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 115–127.

In the paper

“Results revealed that both parasite prevalence and famine uniquely predicted variability in authoritarian governance.”

In the paper

“Results revealed that the relation between parasite prevalence and authoritarian governance was mediated by individual authoritarianism—a result that is consistent with the parasite stress hypothesis, and inconsistent with an alternative explanation based solely on the colonial spread of political and economic institutions.”

In the paper

“empirical evidence reveals that the subjective perception of infection risk causes individuals to be more conformist, to prefer conformity and obedience in others, to respond more negatively toward others who fail to conform, and to endorse more conservative socio-political attitudes [10], [11], [12], [13], [14].”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [10] EG Helzer, 2011, Dirty liberals! Reminders of physical cleanliness influence moral and political attitudes, Psychol Sci source
• Not checked yetcites [11] Y Inbar, 2009, Conservatives are more easily disgusted than liberals, Cognition Emotion source
• Not checked yetcites [12] A Jones, 2008, Moral hypervigilance: The influence of disgust sensitivity in the moral domain, Emotion source

In the paper

“authoritarian political systems are also characterized by nepotism and ethnocentrism [20].”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [20] Vestal TM (1999) Ethiopia: A post-Cold War African state. Westport, USA: Greenwood Publishing Group.

In the paper

“Economic variables—including the overall availability of economic resources and the manner in which those resources are distributed—provide partial answers to that question [3], [4], [5], [6].”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [3] Acemoglu D, Robinson JA (2005) Economic origins of dictatorship and democracy. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press. source
• Not checked yetcites [4] S Haber, 2011, Do natural resources fuel authoritarianism? A reappraisal of the resource curse, Am Polit Sci Rev source
• Not checked yetcites [5] Perry RL, Robertson JD (2002) Comparative analyses of nations: Quantitative approaches. Boulder CO: Westview Press.

In the paper

“in countries and cultures characterized by historically higher prevalence of parasitic diseases, people are less individualistic, exhibit lower levels of dispositional openness to new things, are more likely to conform to majority opinion, and more strongly endorse “binding” moral values that emphasize group loyalty, obedience, and respect for authority [15], [16], [17], [18], [19].”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [15] Cashdan E, Steele M (in press) Pathogen prevalence, group bias, and collectivism in the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample. Hum Nature. source
• Not checked yetcites [16] CL Fincher, 2008, Pathogen prevalence predicts human cross-cultural variability in individualism/collectivism, Proc R Soc B source
• Not checked yetcites [17] DR Murray, 2011, On the origins of cultural differences in conformity: Four tests of the pathogen prevalence hypothesis, Pers Soc Psychol B source

In the paper

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

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [7] R Thornhill, 2009, Parasites, democratization, and the liberalization of values across contemporary countries, Biol Rev source
• Not checked yetcites [8] R Thornhill, 2010, Zoonotic and non-zoonotic diseases in relation to human personality and societal values: Support for the parasite-stress model, Ev Psychol source

In the paper

“Higher levels of parasite stress were associated with less democratic, more highly authoritarian political systems (N’s >192, absolute r’s >.45, p’s<.001).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [7] R Thornhill, 2009, Parasites, democratization, and the liberalization of values across contemporary countries, Biol Rev source

In the paper

“Given previous evidence that authoritarianism may be associated with lack of valued resources or by other threats to human welfare [44], [45], [46] we also included 3 additional measures in our analyses.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [44] TH Henriksen, 2001, The rise and decline of rogue states, J Int Aff
• Not checked yetcites [45] JT Mathews, 1989, Redefining security, Foreign Aff source
• Not checked yetcites [46] GM Wilson, 1968, A new look at the problem of “Japanese Fascism.”, Comp Stud Soc Hist source

In the paper

“Inequitable distribution of wealth predicts variation in democratic versus authoritarian governance [6].”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [6] Vanhanen T (2003) Democratization: a comparative analysis of 170 countries. New York, NY: Routledge. source

In the paper

“This scale has been validated in both Western and non-Western cultures [37].”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [37] Kool VK, Ray JJ (1983) Authoritarianism across cultures. Bombay: Himalaya Publishing House.

In the paper

“These mediation results suggest that the ecological prevalence of infectious diseases predicts the individual authoritarian personalities of people living within that ecological region, and these individual-level dispositions in turn give rise to (and sustain) authoritarian systems of governance.”

In the paper

“This 12-item index (Cronbach’s alpha = .94) served as the primary measure of authoritarian governance.”

In the paper

“European colonial powers were more likely to establish long-lasting democratic political systems and economic institutions in regions characterized by lower incidences of infectious diseases [31], [32].”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [31] D Acemoglu, 2001, The colonial origins of comparative development: An empirical investigation, Am Econ Rev source
• Not checked yetcites [32] W Easterly, 2003, Tropics, germs, and crops: How endowments influence economic development, J Monetary Econ source

In the paper

“Previous research indicates that authoritarian governance is associated with low levels of economic development [5].”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [5] Perry RL, Robertson JD (2002) Comparative analyses of nations: Quantitative approaches. Boulder CO: Westview Press.

In the paper

“In statistical analytic terms, the alternative explanation implies an indirect relation between disease prevalence and individuals' authoritarian attitudes that is statistically mediated by authoritarian governance”

In the paper

“(Following the recoding, all 12 variables were positively inter-correlated; r’s ranged from .26 to .77, with median r = .54.)”

In the paper

“The colonial-establishment-of-institutions explanation implies a direct causal influence of disease prevalence on state-level authoritarian governance, which may in turn have downstream consequences for individual-level authoritarian attitudes.”

In the paper

“for the 3-item scale, Cronbach’s alpha = .63”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [47] R Dirks, 1993, Starvation and famine: Cross-cultural codes and some hypothesis tests, Cross-Cult Res source

In the paper

“Factor analytic results reported by Ross revealed that 12 of these variables loaded highly on a common underlying factor, which Ross called “concentration of political power”—a defining feature of authoritarian political systems.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [35] MH Ross, 1983, Political decision making and conflict: Additional cross-cultural codes scales, Ethnology source

In the paper

“whereas the parasite stress hypothesis implies an indirect relation between disease prevalence and authoritarian governance that is statistically mediated by individuals' authoritarian attitudes.”

In the paper

“countries characterized by higher prevalence of parasitic diseases are also characterized by stronger family ties, increased frequency of intrastate ethnic conflict, and several indicators of increased ethnocentrism [24], [25], [26]”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [24] CL Fincher, 2008, Assortive sociality, limited dispersal, infectious disease and the genesis of the global pattern of religious diversity, Proc R Soc B source
• Not checked yetcites [25] K Letendre, 2010, Does infectious disease cause global variation in the frequency of intrastate armed conflict and civil war?, Biol Rev source
• Not checked yetcites [26] CL Fincher, 2012, Parasite-stress promotes in-group assortative sociality: The cases of strong family ties and heightened religiosity, Behav Brain Sci source

In the paper

“Conversely, the parasite stress hypothesis implies a more direct causal influence of disease prevalence on individuals' authoritarian attitudes, which in turn would be expected to have a consequent influence on state-level systems of government.”

In the paper

“This measure is internally reliable; across a worldwide sample of 160 countries, the 9-item index has Cronbach's alpha = .84”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [29] DR Murray, 2010, Historical prevalence of disease within 230 geopolitical regions: A tool for investigating origins of culture, J Cross Cult Psychol source

In the paper

“Research on “the authoritarian personality” of individuals indicates some relation between politically entrenched authoritarian systems of governance and individually expressed authoritarian personality traits”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [1] Adorno T, Frenkel-Brunswick E, Levinson D, Sanford R (1950) The authoritarian personality. New York, NY: Harper & Row.
• Not checked yetcites [2] Altemeyer B (1996) The authoritarian specter. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.
• Not checked yetcites [33] Meloen J (1996) Authoritarianism, democracy, and education: A preliminary empirical 70-nation global indicators study. In: R. F Farnen, H Dekker, R Meyenberg, & D. B German, editors. Democracy, Socialization and Conflicting Loyalties in East and West. UK: St. Martin’s Press. pp. 20–38. source

In the paper

“The Standard Cross-Cultural Sample (SCCS) consists of 186 worldwide cultural populations, many of which are small-scale aboriginal societies.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [34] GP Murdock, 1969, Standard cross-cultural sample, Ethnology source

In the paper

“These results are consistent with the logical implications of the parasite stress hypothesis, and are inconsistent with an alternative explanation suggesting that the correlation between disease prevalence and authoritarianism is based solely on colonial establishment of state-level institutions.”

In the paper

“Meloen [33] found that authoritarianism was inversely related to the mean level of education within a country.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [33] Meloen J (1996) Authoritarianism, democracy, and education: A preliminary empirical 70-nation global indicators study. In: R. F Farnen, H Dekker, R Meyenberg, & D. B German, editors. Democracy, Socialization and Conflicting Loyalties in East and West. UK: St. Martin’s Press. pp. 20–38. source

In the paper

“for the 4-item scale, Cronbach’s alpha = .90”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [47] R Dirks, 1993, Starvation and famine: Cross-cultural codes and some hypothesis tests, Cross-Cult Res source

In the paper

“these results cannot address deeper questions about the specific underlying processes through which this relation may have emerged.”

In the paper

“These results also suggest that the prevalence of a disease-irrelevant threat—famine—may also uniquely encourage authoritarian political governance, which is consistent with past research that links other threats to authoritarianism [41], [42].”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [41] S Feldman, 1997, Perceived threat and authoritarianism, Polit Psychol source
• Not checked yetcites [42] SM Sales, 1973, Threat as a factor in authoritarianism: An analysis of archival data, J Pers Soc Psychol source

In the paper

“These results do not challenge the important role of colonial history in explaining contemporary nation-level differences in political and economic outcomes [31], [32]. The results simply indicate that a colonial-spread-of-institutions process cannot provide a complete explanation for the relation between parasite prevalence and authoritarianism.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [31] D Acemoglu, 2001, The colonial origins of comparative development: An empirical investigation, Am Econ Rev source
• Not checked yetcites [32] W Easterly, 2003, Tropics, germs, and crops: How endowments influence economic development, J Monetary Econ source

In the paper

“for the 2-item scale, Cronbach’s alpha = .45”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [35] MH Ross, 1983, Political decision making and conflict: Additional cross-cultural codes scales, Ethnology source

In the paper

“Thornhill and colleagues [7] noted that the democratic transitions in North America and Europe were preceded by dramatic reductions in the prevalence of infectious disease.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [7] R Thornhill, 2009, Parasites, democratization, and the liberalization of values across contemporary countries, Biol Rev source

In the paper

“Overall, these results support the parasite stress hypothesis, with both the authoritarian composite measure and all but one of its twelve constituent parts producing convergent results.”

In the paper

“The finding that the threat of famine predicts authoritarian governance in small-scale societies is also convergent with psychological research showing that individual-level authoritarianism is generally higher during times of resource scarcity [42], [49].”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [42] SM Sales, 1973, Threat as a factor in authoritarianism: An analysis of archival data, J Pers Soc Psychol source
• Not checked yetcites [49] RM Doty, 1991, Threat and authoritarianism in the United States, 1978-1987, J Pers Soc Psychol source

In the paper

“It has been suggested that an authoritarian personality serves a self-protective function [54].”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [54] P Jugert, 2009, A motivational model of authoritarianism: Integrating personal and situational determinants, Polit Psychol source

In the paper

“This relationship is consistent with a wide range of additional evidence indicating that individuals are sensitive to disease-connoting cues within their immediate environment, and respond to these cues with functionally adaptive shifts in cognition and behavior [58], [59].”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [58] AC Little, 2011, Exposure to visual cues of pathogen contagion changes preferences for masculinity and symmetry in opposite-sex faces, Proc R Soc B source
• Not checked yetcites [59] M Schaller, 2011, The behavioural immune system and the psychology of human sociality, Phil Trans R Soc B source

In the paper

“Although one cannot confidently draw inferences about individual-level processes from population-level data, the results of Study 1 may have other implications at the psychological level of analysis.”