Journal article
Explaining illness with evil: Pathogen prevalence fosters moral vitalism
B Bastian, CM Vauclair, S Loughnan, P Bain, A Ashokkumar, M Becker, M Bilewicz, E Collier-Baker, C Crespo, PW Eastwick, R Fischer, M Friese, Á Gómez, VM Guerra, JLC Guevara, K Hanke, N Hooper, LL Huang, S Junqi, M Karasawa Show all
Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences | ROYAL SOC | Published : 2019
Abstract
Pathogens represent a significant threat to human health leading to the emergence of strategies designed to help manage their negative impact. We examined how spiritual beliefs developed to explain and predict the devastating effects of pathogens and spread of infectious disease. Analysis of existing data in studies 1 and 2 suggests that moral vitalism (beliefs about spiritual forces of evil) is higher in geographical regions characterized by historical higher levels of pathogens. Furthermore, drawing on a sample of 3140 participants from 28 countries in study 3, we found that historical higher levels of pathogens were associated with stronger endorsement of moral vitalistic beliefs. Further..
View full abstractGrants
Awarded by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Funding Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Australian Research Council's Discovery Projects funding scheme (B.B., P.B. and W.B.S.: grant no. DP110102632).