Racism is not about “race”
Abstract Unfamiliar individuals are viewed with suspicion across the entire animal kingdom. This makes evolutionary sense, as outsiders may carry unfamiliar pathogens against which one has not yet developed immune defenses. In humans, the unfamiliar-pathogens idea has been dismissed on the grounds t...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2023-12-01
|
| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47653-0 |
| _version_ | 1797388425694806016 |
|---|---|
| author | Paola Bressan |
| author_facet | Paola Bressan |
| author_sort | Paola Bressan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Unfamiliar individuals are viewed with suspicion across the entire animal kingdom. This makes evolutionary sense, as outsiders may carry unfamiliar pathogens against which one has not yet developed immune defenses. In humans, the unfamiliar-pathogens idea has been dismissed on the grounds that people do not shun microbe-sharing contact with ethnic outgroups (other “races”) more than they do with ingroups. Reanalyzing the same public data on which such claims are based—6500 participants from China, India, USA, and UK—here I show that (1) people do behave as though the parasites of unfamiliar individuals were more dangerous, and (2) strangers’ ethnicity matters when, and only when, it is a proxy for unfamiliarity. This implies that racism could be tamed by acquainting our children with fellow humans of all shapes and colors, so that everyone in the world looks like family. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T22:39:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b045fe52b8a64159ab4ebf07ce681264 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T22:39:42Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-b045fe52b8a64159ab4ebf07ce6812642023-12-17T12:14:20ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222023-12-0113111010.1038/s41598-023-47653-0Racism is not about “race”Paola Bressan0Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, University of PadovaAbstract Unfamiliar individuals are viewed with suspicion across the entire animal kingdom. This makes evolutionary sense, as outsiders may carry unfamiliar pathogens against which one has not yet developed immune defenses. In humans, the unfamiliar-pathogens idea has been dismissed on the grounds that people do not shun microbe-sharing contact with ethnic outgroups (other “races”) more than they do with ingroups. Reanalyzing the same public data on which such claims are based—6500 participants from China, India, USA, and UK—here I show that (1) people do behave as though the parasites of unfamiliar individuals were more dangerous, and (2) strangers’ ethnicity matters when, and only when, it is a proxy for unfamiliarity. This implies that racism could be tamed by acquainting our children with fellow humans of all shapes and colors, so that everyone in the world looks like family.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47653-0 |
| spellingShingle | Paola Bressan Racism is not about “race” Scientific Reports |
| title | Racism is not about “race” |
| title_full | Racism is not about “race” |
| title_fullStr | Racism is not about “race” |
| title_full_unstemmed | Racism is not about “race” |
| title_short | Racism is not about “race” |
| title_sort | racism is not about race |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47653-0 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT paolabressan racismisnotaboutrace |