Mere visual perception of other people's disease symptoms facilitates a more aggressive immune response

Mark Schaller; Gregory E. Miller; Will M. Gervais; Sarah Yager; Edith Chen

doi:10.1177/0956797610368064

Mere visual perception of other people's disease symptoms facilitates a more aggressive immune response

Mark Schaller^*, Gregory E. Miller, Will M. Gervais, Sarah Yager, Edith Chen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

176 Scopus citations

Abstract

An experiment (N = 28) tested the hypothesis that the mere visual perception of disease-connoting cues promotes a more aggressive immune response. Participants were exposed either to photographs depicting symptoms of infectious disease or to photographs depicting guns. After incubation with a model bacterial stimulus, participants' white blood cells produced higher levels of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the infectious-disease condition, compared with the control (guns) condition. These results provide the first empirical evidence that visual perception of other people's symptoms may cause the immune system to respond more aggressively to infection. Adaptive origins and functional implications are discussed.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	649-652
Number of pages	4
Journal	Psychological Science
Volume	21
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610368064
State	Published - 2010

Funding

This research was supported by grants funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Keywords

Disease
Health
Immunity
Perception
Threat

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Psychology

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10.1177/0956797610368064

Cite this

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title = "Mere visual perception of other people's disease symptoms facilitates a more aggressive immune response",

abstract = "An experiment (N = 28) tested the hypothesis that the mere visual perception of disease-connoting cues promotes a more aggressive immune response. Participants were exposed either to photographs depicting symptoms of infectious disease or to photographs depicting guns. After incubation with a model bacterial stimulus, participants' white blood cells produced higher levels of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the infectious-disease condition, compared with the control (guns) condition. These results provide the first empirical evidence that visual perception of other people's symptoms may cause the immune system to respond more aggressively to infection. Adaptive origins and functional implications are discussed.",

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AU - Schaller, Mark

AU - Miller, Gregory E.

AU - Gervais, Will M.

AU - Yager, Sarah

AU - Chen, Edith

N1 - Funding Information: This research was supported by grants funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

PY - 2010

Y1 - 2010

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AB - An experiment (N = 28) tested the hypothesis that the mere visual perception of disease-connoting cues promotes a more aggressive immune response. Participants were exposed either to photographs depicting symptoms of infectious disease or to photographs depicting guns. After incubation with a model bacterial stimulus, participants' white blood cells produced higher levels of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the infectious-disease condition, compared with the control (guns) condition. These results provide the first empirical evidence that visual perception of other people's symptoms may cause the immune system to respond more aggressively to infection. Adaptive origins and functional implications are discussed.

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Mere visual perception of other people's disease symptoms facilitates a more aggressive immune response

Abstract

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Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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