Sex, germs, and health: pathogen-avoidance motives and health-protective behaviour.

Objective:Recent work suggests that the psychology of pathogen-avoidance has wide-reaching effects on how people interact with the world. These processes – part of what has been referred to as the behavioural immune system – are, in a way, our ‘evolved’ health psychology. However, scholars have scar...

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Publicado en:Psychology & Health Vol. 31; no. 8; pp. 959 - 976
Autores principales: Gruijters, Stefan L.K., Tybur, Joshua M., Ruiter, Robert A.C., Massar, Karlijn
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Aug2016
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Aug2016
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      pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd
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        10.1080/08870446.2016.1161194
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        atl: Sex, germs, and health: pathogen-avoidance motives and health-protective behaviour.
      aug:
        au:
          Gruijters, Stefan L.K.
          Tybur, Joshua M.
          Ruiter, Robert A.C.
          Massar, Karlijn
        affil: Department of Work and Social Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
      sug:
        subj:
          Sexual Health
          Health Behavior
          Sexually Transmitted Diseases Diagnosis
          Attitude
          Intention
          Viruses
          Motivation
          Human
          Self Report
          Crowdsourcing
          United States
          Male
          Female
          Adolescence
          Young Adult
          Adult
          Surveys
          Descriptive Statistics
          Summated Rating Scaling
          Scales
          Structural Equation Modeling
          Data Analysis Software
          Chi Square Test
          Variable
          P-Value
          Hypothesis
          Factor Analysis
          Confidence Intervals
          Adolescent: 13-18 years
          Adult: 19-44 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: Objective:Recent work suggests that the psychology of pathogen-avoidance has wide-reaching effects on how people interact with the world. These processes – part of what has been referred to as the behavioural immune system – are, in a way, our ‘evolved’ health psychology. However, scholars have scarcely investigated how the behavioural immune system relates to health-protective behaviours. The current research attempts to fill this gap. Design:Across two cross-sectional studies (N = 386 and 470, respectively), we examined the relationship between pathogen-avoidance motives and health-protective behaviour. Outcome Measures:The studies used self-reported measures of attitude and intention as indicators of health-protective behaviour. Results:Data collected in Study 1 revealed that pathogen-avoidance motivation related to participants’ attitude and intention towards sexually transmitted infections screening. High levels of pathogen-avoidance motivation were also related to having had fewer sexual partners, which partially mediated the effect of pathogen-avoidance variables on testing motivation. Study 2 extended these findings by showing moderate associations between pathogen-avoidance motivation and a broad range of health-protective behaviours, including but not limited to pathogen-related health concerns. Conclusion:We argue that understanding and targeting pathogen-avoidance psychology can add novel and important understanding of health-protective behaviour.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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