• A
  • A
  • A
  • ABC
  • ABC
  • ABC
  • А
  • А
  • А
  • А
  • А
Regular version of the site

Pathogen Avoidance, Ethnocentrism and Religiosity

Student: Zhuravleva Maria

Supervisor: Evgeny N. Osin

Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences

Educational Programme: Applied Social Psychology (Master)

Final Grade: 7

Year of Graduation: 2019

Humans have a set of psychological mechanisms, that help them to avoid sources of pathogens, the Behavioral Immune System (BIS). Previous findings state that the BIS can contribute to ethnocentric attitudes. However, it is still a question how the BIS can encourage in-group preference and out-group negativity. Recent research suggests that the social conservative value system can be a mediator between pathogen avoidance motivations and out-group negativity. The aim of the paper is to investigate whether religious conservatism, as one of the social conservative value systems, can mediate the relationship between pathogen avoidance motivations and ethnocentrism. In order to test this hypothesis, the mediation analysis was conducted on a sample of 177 people from Russia. The results of analysis did not prove the relationship between pathogen avoidance motivations and ethnocentrism. Mediation model was not confirmed as well, however, religious conservatism and ethnocentrism were significantly related. It can be that pathogen threat alone does not elicit ethnocentric attitudes and should be combined with other measures of the BIS or the relationship between the BIS and ethnocentrism is better explained by other social conservative value systems, such as social dominance orientation or right-wing authoritarianism. Key words: Pathogen avoidance; Religious conservatism; Ethnocentrism; In-group; Out-group.

Full text (added October 6, 2019)

Student Theses at HSE must be completed in accordance with the University Rules and regulations specified by each educational programme.

Summaries of all theses must be published and made freely available on the HSE website.

The full text of a thesis can be published in open access on the HSE website only if the authoring student (copyright holder) agrees, or, if the thesis was written by a team of students, if all the co-authors (copyright holders) agree. After a thesis is published on the HSE website, it obtains the status of an online publication.

Student theses are objects of copyright and their use is subject to limitations in accordance with the Russian Federation’s law on intellectual property.

In the event that a thesis is quoted or otherwise used, reference to the author’s name and the source of quotation is required.

Search all student theses