Evidence of the activation of the behavioral immune system during the COVID-19 pandemic

Nikola Rokvić; Dragan Žuljević

doi:10.19090/pp.v19i3.2591

Authors

Nikola Rokvić Modern Business School, Belgrade, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7844-0386
Dragan Žuljević Faculty of Law and Business Studies dr Lazar Vrkatić, Union University, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1597-1275

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19090/pp.v19i3.2591

Keywords:

behavioral immune system, disgust, COVID-19

Abstract

The behavioral immune system (BIS) is a collection of beliefs and behaviors that reduce the likelihood that an individual will fall ill from an infectious disease. The emotion underlying this system is believed to be disgust. The COVID-19 pandemic, as it has been caused by an infectious agent, has been a catalyst for activating the BIS in individuals, so that they might protect themselves from this potentially deadly disease. The aim of our study was to determine if there is a relationship between disgust and psychological distress. In our study, disgust correlated negatively (weak to moderate correlation) with positive affect and positively with negative affect and psychological distress. We performed cluster analysis to determine the uniformity of longitudinal change in disgust values. We isolated two clusters: one that showed a net increase in disgust scores and one that presented a net decrease in disgust values. By observing the strength of the increase or decrease in trait disgust and its separate relationship with distress, we believe we have managed to isolate the possible existence of maladaptive activation of the behavioral immune system.

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