Pathogen Avoidance and Outgroup Avoidance During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Behavioral immune system (BIS) theory explains that humans possess an adaptive psychological mechanism that helps them stay away from potential sources of pathogens. The theory claims that potential sources of pathogens also include outgroups, such as racial and ethnic minorities, because outgroup members potentially carry infectious diseases to which ingroup members have not developed immunity. In order to examine this controversial claim, the current study investigated how outgroup avoidance was associated with other types of pathogen avoidance during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, participants from the United States (N = 386) responded to questions pertaining to pathogen threat, pathogen avoidance, and outgroup avoidance. The data were statistically analyzed to identify significant associations between those variables. The results indicated that outgroup avoidance was positively associated with avoidance of personal pathogen cues (i.e., social distancing) but no other types of pathogen cues (i.e., wearing a mask and washing hands). This result aligns with the recent theoretical argument that the outgroup avoidance activated by the BIS (e.g., xenophobia) is a byproduct of avoiding infected ingroup rather than outgroup individuals.