Outgroup avoidance may function as protection against unfamiliar parasites and diseases.

Evidence

In our exploration of the underlying mechanisms of intergroup prejudice, we have certainly not been as comprehensive as is necessary for a complete account of the psychology of prejudice in all its forms, and there are surely a variety of other mechanisms at play. For example, relatively recent work on the behavioral immune system suggests that fear and avoidance of out-group members may serve the function of limiting contact with groups that have been exposed to parasites or diseases to which one’s group has not developed an immunity (e.g., Schaller & Duncan, 2007). — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1277

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to evolutionary accounts of prejudice and disgust psychology; a parallel to work on moral foundations and pathogen avoidance in political psychology.
• SEED: Article angle: how the behavioral immune system explains modern xenophobia and disgust-based prejudice against immigrants/disease-linked stereotypes.