Xenophobia is the reverse side of the desire for self-preservation

Psychologist Dan Gottlieb is familiar with the cruelty of people from his own experience. “People are turning away,” he says. “They avoid looking me in the eyes, they quickly lead their children away.” Gottlieb miraculously survived after a terrible car accident, which turned him into an invalid: his entire lower half of his body was paralyzed. People react negatively to his presence. It turns out that a person in a wheelchair makes others so uncomfortable that they can’t even bring themselves to talk to him. “Once I was in a restaurant with my daughter, and the waiter asked her, and not me, where would I be comfortable to sit! I told my daughter, “Tell him I want to sit at that table.”

Now Gottlieb’s reaction to such incidents has changed markedly. He used to get angry and feel insulted, humiliated and unworthy of respect. Over time, he came to the conclusion that the reason for the disgust of people should be sought in their own anxieties and discomforts. “At worst, I just sympathize with them,” he says.

Most of us don’t want to judge others by their appearance. But, to be honest, we all at least sometimes experience awkwardness or disgust at the sight of an overweight woman who sits in the next seat on the subway.

According to recent studies, such social prejudices have evolved as one of the types of protective behavior that helps a person protect himself from possible diseases. Mark Scheller, a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, calls this mechanism “defensive bias.” When we notice a likely sign of illness in another person—a runny nose or an unusual skin lesion—we tend to avoid that person.”

The same thing happens when we see people who differ from us in appearance – unusual behavior, clothing, body structure and function. A kind of immune system of our behavior is triggered – an unconscious strategy, the purpose of which is not to infringe on the other, but to protect our own health.

“Defensive Bias” in action

According to Scheller, the behavioral immune system is highly sensitive. It compensates for the body’s lack of mechanisms for recognizing microbes and viruses. Encountering any abnormal manifestations, we unconsciously perceive them as “dangerous”. That is why we are disgusted and avoid almost any person who looks unusual.

The same mechanism underlies our reactions not only to the “anomalous”, but also to the “new”. So, Scheller also considers “protective prejudice” to be the cause of instinctive distrust of strangers. From the point of view of self-preservation, we need to be on our guard around those who behave or look unusual, outsiders, whose behavior is still unpredictable for us.

Interestingly, similar mechanisms have been observed among representatives of the animal world. Thus, biologists have long known that chimpanzees tend to avoid sick members of their groups. The Jane Goodall documentary illustrates this phenomenon. When the chimpanzee, the leader of the pack, had polio and was left partially paralyzed, the rest of the individuals began to bypass him.

It turns out that intolerance and discrimination are the reverse side of the desire for self-preservation. No matter how hard we try to hide surprise, disgust, embarrassment when meeting people who are different from us, these feelings unconsciously exist within us. They can accumulate and lead entire communities to xenophobia and violence against outsiders.

Is tolerance a sign of good immunity?

According to the results of the study, concern about the possibility of getting sick correlates with xenophobia. The participants in the experiment were divided into two groups. The first was shown photographs of open wounds and people with serious illnesses. The second group was not shown them. Further, participants who had just seen unpleasant images were more negatively disposed towards representatives of a different nationality.

Scientists have found that prejudice increases during periods when a person is more vulnerable to infections. For example, a study led by Carlos Navarrete at Michigan State University found that women tend to be hostile in the first trimester of pregnancy. During this time, the immune system is suppressed as it can attack the fetus. At the same time, it was found that people become more tolerant if they feel protected from diseases.

Mark Scheller conducted another study on this topic. Participants were shown two types of photographs. Some depicted the symptoms of infectious diseases, others depicted weapons and armored vehicles. Before and after the presentation of the photographs, the participants donated blood for analysis. The researchers noticed a surge in immune system activity in participants who were shown images of disease symptoms. The same indicator did not change for those who considered weapons.

How to reduce the level of xenophobia in oneself and in society?

Some of our biases are indeed the result of the innate behavioral immune system. However, blind adherence to a certain ideology and intolerance are not innate. What skin color is bad and what is good, we learn in the process of education. It is in our power to control behavior and subject the existing knowledge to critical reflection.

Many studies show that prejudice is a flexible link in our reasoning. We are indeed endowed with an instinctive tendency to discriminate. But awareness and acceptance of this fact is an important step towards tolerance and mutual respect.

Prevention of infectious diseases, vaccination, improvement of water purification systems can become part of government measures to combat violence and aggression. However, it is important to remember that changing our attitudes is not only a national task, but also the personal responsibility of everyone.

By being aware of our innate tendencies, we can more easily control them. “We have a tendency to discriminate and judge, but we are able to find other ways to interact with such a different reality around us,” recalls Dan Gottlieb. When he feels that others are uncomfortable with his disability, he takes the initiative and tells them: “You can also contact me.” This phrase relieves tension and people around them begin to interact with Gottlieb naturally, feeling that he is one of them.