COVID-19
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According to psychologists, in addition to our physiological immune system we also have a behavioral one, called “parasite stress”: it is an unconscious code of conduct that helps us stay disease-free, including a fear and avoidance of unfamiliar – and so possibly infected – people.
When infection risk is high, this ‘parasite stress’ behavior increases, potentially manifesting as attitudes and even voting patterns that champion conformity and reject ‘foreign outgroups’ – core traits of authoritarian politics.