The behavioral immune system is a phrase coined by the psychological scientist Mark Schaller to refer to a suite of psychological mechanisms that allow individual organisms to detect the potential presence of infectious parasites or pathogens in their immediate environment, and to engage in behaviors that prevent contact with those objects and individuals.[1][2][3]
The existence of a behavioral immune system has been documented across many animal species, including humans. It is theorized that the mechanisms that comprise the behavioral immune system evolved as a crude first line of defense against disease-causing pathogens.[2]
In humans and animals, activating a physiological immune response to pathogens is effective, but metabolically costly. Immune responses are activated at the expense of other fitness enhancing activities.[4][5] Inflammation after infection can also be harmful to the body (e.g., contribute to diseases of aging).[6][7] In addition to cultural adaptations to avoid pathogens, the behavioral immune system acts as a set of defense mechanisms to protect against pathogens before infection occurs [8][9][10]
Shows pathogens and non-infection diseases that create similar cues connoting presence of pathogens, real or perceived, which activate the behavioral immune system
^Schaller M (2006). "Parasites, behavioral defenses, and the social psychological mechanisms through which cultures are evoked". Psychological Inquiry. 17 (2): 96–101. doi:10.1207/s15327965pli1702_2. S2CID 219729311.
^ abSchaller M, Duncan LA (2007). "The behavioral immune system: Its evolution and social psychological implications". In Forgas JP, Haselton MG, von Hippel W (eds.). Evolution and the social mind: Evolutionary psychology and social cognition. New York: Psychology Press. pp. 293–307.
^Schaller M, Park JH (2011). "The behavioral immune system (and why it matters)". Current Directions in Psychological Science. 20 (2): 99–103. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.459.1601. doi:10.1177/0963721411402596. S2CID 39930315.
^Dantzer R (March 2001). "Cytokine-induced sickness behavior: where do we stand?". Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 15 (1): 7–24. doi:10.1006/brbi.2000.0613. PMID 11259077. S2CID 3187017.
^Hart BL (June 1988). "Biological basis of the behavior of sick animals". Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 12 (2): 123–37. doi:10.1016/s0149-7634(88)80004-6. PMID 3050629. S2CID 17797005.
^Khansari N, Shakiba Y, Mahmoudi M (January 2009). "Chronic inflammation and oxidative stress as a major cause of age-related diseases and cancer". Recent Patents on Inflammation & Allergy Drug Discovery. 3 (1): 73–80. doi:10.2174/187221309787158371. PMID 19149749.
^Murray DR, Schaller M (2016). "The Behavioral Immune System". Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. Vol. 53. Elsevier. pp. 75–129. doi:10.1016/bs.aesp.2015.09.002. ISBN 978-0-12-804737-8.
^Schaller M, Park JH (April 2011). "The Behavioral Immune System (and Why It Matters)". Current Directions in Psychological Science. 20 (2): 99–103. doi:10.1177/0963721411402596. ISSN 0963-7214. S2CID 39930315.
^Schaller M (December 2011). "The behavioural immune system and the psychology of human sociality". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences. 366 (1583): 3418–26. doi:10.1098/rstb.2011.0029. PMC 3189350. PMID 22042918.
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