The Effect of Owning Animals on Perceived Vulnerability to, and Avoidance of, Parasitic Diseases in Humans
Abstract
The evolutionary history of humans has always been influenced by pathogens because of their ability to cause both morbidity and mortality. Natural selection should favor behavioral strategies that minimize disease transmission and consequently increase human survival. Collectively such strategies are referred to as the behavioral immune system, which is thought to be more often activated in individuals with an impaired immune system who are most vulnerable to pathogens and infectious diseases. We investigated the associations between an individual’s perceived vulnerability to disease, whether they own any animals, and whether they carry out behavioral tactics to avoid parasite transmission. A sample of 285 Slovakian students participated in a questionnaire study. As predicted, antipathogen behavior was activated in individuals with a high perceived vulnerability to disease. Females showed higher antiparasitic scores than males especially when behaviors were most likely to transmit disease. Individuals who owned animals perceived themselves as less vulnerable to disease as well as less vulnerable to the perceptions of those who did not own any animals. Moreover, among animal owners scores for parasite-avoiding behaviors relevant to being in close contact with an animal (such as removing animal feces and worming animals) were higher than for parasite-transmitting behaviors relevant to being in close contact with an animal (such as allowing animals to lick). We discuss the results, further taking into account both the model of natural selection and the coevolutionary arms race model.
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