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Hormonal correlates of pathogen disgust: Testing the Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis

View ORCID ProfileBenedict C Jones, View ORCID ProfileAmanda C Hahn, View ORCID ProfileClaire I Fisher, View ORCID ProfileHongyi Wang, View ORCID ProfileMichal Kandrik, View ORCID ProfileAnthony J Lee, View ORCID ProfileJoshua Tybur, View ORCID ProfileLisa DeBruine
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/156430
Benedict C Jones
1Institute of Neuroscience & Psychology, University of Glasgow, UK.
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  • For correspondence: ben.jones@glasgow.ac.uk
Amanda C Hahn
2Department of Psychology, Humboldt State University, USA.
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Claire I Fisher
1Institute of Neuroscience & Psychology, University of Glasgow, UK.
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Hongyi Wang
3School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, China.
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Michal Kandrik
4Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, VU Amsterdam, Netherlands.
5Institute Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Netherlands.
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Anthony J Lee
1Institute of Neuroscience & Psychology, University of Glasgow, UK.
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Joshua Tybur
4Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, VU Amsterdam, Netherlands.
5Institute Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Netherlands.
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Lisa DeBruine
1Institute of Neuroscience & Psychology, University of Glasgow, UK.
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Abstract

Raised progesterone during the menstrual cycle is associated with suppressed physiological immune responses, reducing the probability that the immune system will compromise the blastocyst’s development. The Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis proposes that this progesterone-linked immunosuppression triggers increased disgust responses to pathogen cues, compensating for the reduction in physiological immune responses by minimizing contact with pathogens. Although a popular and influential hypothesis, there is no direct, within-woman evidence for correlated changes in progesterone and pathogen disgust. To address this issue, we used a longitudinal design to test for correlated changes in salivary progesterone and pathogen disgust (measured using the pathogen disgust subscale of the Three Domain Disgust Scale) in a large sample of women (N=375). Our analyses showed no evidence that pathogen disgust tracked changes in progesterone, estradiol, testosterone, or cortisol. Thus, our results provide no support for the Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis of variation in pathogen disgust.

Footnotes

  • This research was supported by ERC Grants awarded to BCJ (OCMATE), LMD (KINSHIP), and JMT (HBIS). The authors thank Lars Penke, Julia Jünger, and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on our manuscript.

    Supplemental information (e.g., data files and analysis scripts) available at https://osf.io/93n2d/

    BCJ, LMD, ACH, and CIF designed the study; ACH, CIF, HW, and MK collected data; LMD, BCJ, HW, MK, and AJL analyzed the data; BCJ, LMD, and JT drafted the manuscript; and all authors revised the manuscript.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Posted December 13, 2017.
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Hormonal correlates of pathogen disgust: Testing the Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis
Benedict C Jones, Amanda C Hahn, Claire I Fisher, Hongyi Wang, Michal Kandrik, Anthony J Lee, Joshua Tybur, Lisa DeBruine
bioRxiv 156430; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/156430
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Hormonal correlates of pathogen disgust: Testing the Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis
Benedict C Jones, Amanda C Hahn, Claire I Fisher, Hongyi Wang, Michal Kandrik, Anthony J Lee, Joshua Tybur, Lisa DeBruine
bioRxiv 156430; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/156430

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