Project Abstract/Summary
A fact of social life is that people consider some individuals in their social environments to be members of their own group (the “ingroup”) and others to be members of other groups (the “outgroups”). Often, this categorization results in social biases, including prejudice and discrimination toward outgroups. People categorize others as outgroup members along such dimensions of human variability as gender, disability, race, ethnicity, or ancestry. Biases stemming from these categorizations may ultimately contribute to hate crimes and other negative forms of social interaction. Decades of theory development and research in the social and behavioral sciences have produced a good understanding of the individual differences and situational factors associated with heightened biases. Much less is known about neurobiological processes that may underlie such biases. This project investigates the role of immune system activity in how people process and respond to social information. An increase in immune system activity is common when people are ill or responding to threat. It is the body’s way of fighting infection. Yet, its consequences may extend far beyond the physiological, impacting the way people think and feel about others. One practical implication relates to the practice of “presenteeism” – the practice of working while sick. This is common in corporate and medical settings, and may adversely affect high-stakes decision making and evaluations of others.
This project combines social psychology with psychoneuroimmunology to examine how immune system activation may change the way people perceive others in their social environments. It focuses on social cognitive processes that may contribute to more negative evaluations of people from other cultural groups. An experimental approach is used to manipulate immune system activity as a result of a vaccine injection. Vaccines help develop immunity in the long-run. But within the first twenty-four hours people’s bodies respond to the vaccine with a general inflammatory response. It is hypothesized that this general inflammatory response will be associated with more social bias against people from cultural backgrounds other than one’s own. The research also tests specific social cognitive processes that may underpin this effect, such as greater ingroup favoritism and/or outgroup derogation, altered perception of who belongs to one’s ingroup versus the outgroup, greater likelihood of stereotype application, and increased heuristic processing. The project clarifies how an important biological process can lead to social prejudice, and helps to inform broader societal policies associated with sick leave.
This award reflects NSF’s statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation’s intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
Principal Investigator
Anastasia Makhanova – University of Arkansas located in FAYETTEVILLE, AR
Co-Principal Investigators
Funders
Funding Amount
$199,974.00
Project Start Date
09/01/2023
Project End Date
08/31/2025
Will the project remain active for the next two years?
No
Source: National Science Foundation
Please be advised that recent changes in federal funding schemes may have impacted the project’s scope and status.
Updated: April, 2025