{"id":15066,"date":"2021-11-04T12:21:24","date_gmt":"2021-11-04T12:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interhospi.com\/?p=15066"},"modified":"2021-11-04T12:21:24","modified_gmt":"2021-11-04T12:21:24","slug":"rates-of-infectious-disease-linked-to-authoritarian-attitudes-and-governance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interhospi.com\/rates-of-infectious-disease-linked-to-authoritarian-attitudes-and-governance\/","title":{"rendered":"Rates of infectious disease linked to authoritarian attitudes and governance"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>

<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>
\n

Rates of infectious disease linked to authoritarian attitudes and governance<\/h1>\/ in E-News<\/a> <\/span><\/span><\/header>\n<\/div><\/section>
\n

According to psychologists, in addition to our physiological immune system we also have a behavioural one: an unconscious code of conduct that helps us stay disease-free, including a fear and avoidance of unfamiliar \u2013 and so possibly infected \u2013 people.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

When infection risk is high, this \u201cparasite stress\u201d behaviour increases, potentially manifesting as attitudes and even voting patterns that champion conformity and reject \u201cforeign outgroups\u201d \u2013 a core trait of authoritarian politics.<\/p>\n

A new study, the largest yet to investigate links between pathogen prevalence and ideology, reveals a strong connection between infection rates and strains of authoritarianism in public attitudes, political leadership and even lawmaking.<\/p>\n

While data used for the study predates Covid-19, University of Cambridge psychologists say that greater public desire for \u201cconformity and obedience\u201d as a result of the pandemic could ultimately see liberal politics suffer at the ballot box. The findings are published in the Journal of Social and Political Psychology [1].<\/p>\n

Researchers used infectious disease data from the United States in the 1990s and 2000s and responses to a psychological survey taken by over 206,000 people in the US during 2017 and 2018. They found that the more infectious US cities and states went on to have more authoritarian-leaning citizens.<\/p>\n

The US findings were replicated at an international level using survey data from over 51,000 people across 47 different countries, comparing responses with national-level disease rates.<\/p>\n

The most authoritarian US states had rates of infectious diseases \u2013 from HIV to measles \u2013 around four times higher than the least authoritarian states, while for the most authoritarian nations it was three times higher than the least.<\/p>\n

This was after scientists accounted for a range of other socioeconomic factors that influence ideology, including religious beliefs and inequalities in wealth and education. They also found that higher regional infection rates in the US corresponded to more votes for Donald Trump in the 2016 US Presidential Election.<\/p>\n

Moreover, in both nations and US states, higher rates of infectious disease correlated with more \u201cvertical\u201d laws \u2013 those that disproportionately affect certain groups, such as abortion control or extreme penalties for certain crimes. This was not the case with \u201chorizontal\u201d laws that affect everyone equally.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe find a consistent relationship between prevalence of infectious diseases and a psychological preference for conformity and hierarchical power structures \u2013 pillars of authoritarian politics,\u201d said study lead author Dr Leor Zmigrod, an expert in the psychology of ideology from the University of Cambridge<\/p>\n

\u201cHigher rates of infectious diseases predicted political attitudes and outcomes such as conservative voting and authoritarian legal structures. Across multiple geographical and historical levels of analysis we see this relationship emerge again and again.\u201d \u201cWe found that pathogen rates from over 20 years ago were still relevant to political attitudes as recently as 2016. If Covid-19 increases the allure of authoritarian politics, the effects could be long-lasting,\u201d said Zmigrod, from Cambridge\u2019s Department of Psychology.<\/p>\n

The study also tested whether the link to authoritarianism held for zoonotic diseases \u2013 those only acquired from animals \u2013 but found it related solely to human-to-human disease transmission, further suggesting this is part of a \u201cbehavioural immune system\u201d say researchers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese findings are a warning sign that disease-avoiding behaviours have profound implications for politics,\u201d added Zmigrod. \u201cCovid-19 might shape people\u2019s tendencies towards conformity and obedience, and this could be converted into authoritarian political preferences, voting patterns, and laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHealth and politics may be more intertwined than we previously envisioned.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>
\n

<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\n