Effect Of Gratitude Experience And Its Expression And Exposure Risk On Pathogen Avoidance Behavior In Interpersonal Interaction

In the long history of human evolution,in order to adapt to the environment threatened by pathogens,humans have not only evolved a mature physiological immune system,but also derived a special set of behavioral immune system(BIS),which aims to help individuals avoid all stimuli that imply the presence of pathogens,thereby keeping them out before contact occurs.However,the BIS has strong adaptability and flexibility,and human pathogen avoidance behavior can be regulated by certain factors(such as interpersonal value),and then make an adaptive response.However,previous studies on the influencing factors of pathogen avoidance behavior were limited to non-social situations,and focused on the cognitive process under rational judgment.Whether emotional effects in social situations have an impact on pathogen avoidance behavior is still unknown.To this end,this study created a social interaction scene and induced individual gratitude through the kind and active help of others,so as to explore the effect of gratitude on pathogen avoidance behavior.In addition,gratitude is an interpersonal emotion.Previous studies have found that both gratitude experience and its expression can help promote the establishment and development of relationships.As an important part of connecting helpers and beneficiaries,whether gratitude expression can reduce pathogen avoidance behavior is also unclear.In view of this,this study mainly focuses on the effects of gratitude emotional experience and gratitude expression on pathogen avoidance behavior.Study1 explored the effect of gratitude experience on pathogen avoidance behavior.A two-factor within-subjects design was used,in which gratitude(including high and low gratitude)and exposure risk(including high exposure risk and low exposure risk)were independent variables,and the dependent variable was the reaction time difference in the Approach-Avoidance Task(AAT).Our research adopted the interpersonal interaction paradigm to induce subjects’ gratitude.Participants were required to complete a noise-sharing task with two partners.The noise intensity was evaluated before the experiment.Of the two partners,the highly-grateful partner shared 12 rounds of the 16 rounds,and the low-grateful partner helped share in only 4 of the 16 rounds.After the noise-sharing task was over,participants rated on the manipulation test,and then forwarded to the AAT.The approach-avoidance task required the subjects to use the mouse to push forward or pull back,and the screen will show the personal items(used)provided by the partners who have helped them share the noise before.The pictures were rated before the experiment by another group of subjects,which divided high and low exposure risk manipulation.The results showed a significant main effect of gratitude,and the reaction time difference of the participants in the high gratitude condition was significantly smaller compared with the low gratitude partner.The main effect of exposure risk was not significant.The interaction effect was significant,and the simple effects analysis showed that in the high exposure risk condition,the reaction time difference in the high gratitude condition was significantly smaller than that in the low gratitude condition.Study2 explored the effect of gratitude expression on pathogen avoidance behavior.A two-factor mixed design was adopted,and the independent variables were gratitude expression(including expression and non-expression group)and exposure risk(including high exposure risk and low exposure risk),in which gratitude expression is a between-subject factor,and the exposure risk is within-subject factor.The dependent variable was still the reaction time difference in AAT.Different from Study 1,since Study2 requires the subjects to express gratitude,the subjects need to have a high level of gratitude,so only the induction of high levels of gratitude is involved in Study 2.After the subjects and their partners have completed the noise sharing task(the same procedure as in Study 1),they will enter the stage of gratitude expression.Expression method settings: Thank-you note and money was used.Control group: do not express gratitude,and perform a simple arithmetic task for two minutes.Once the gratitude expression phase is over,move on to the AAT phase.The results found that the main effects were not significant,and the interaction between gratitude expression and exposure risk was significant.The simple effect analysis showed that under the condition of low exposure risk,the reaction time difference of the subjects in the gratitude expression group was significantly smaller than that in the non-expression group.Based on the above results,the study found that,compared with low state gratitude,the experience of high gratitude can reduce pathogen avoidance behavior to a certain extent,and expression of gratitude can further reduce pathogen avoidance behavior compared with no expression of gratitude.The study discovered the interaction between gratitude experience and its expression and the behavioral immune system,which also helps us to further understand the pathogen avoidance behavior in the context of interpersonal interaction,thus enriching the research on the behavioral immune system;in addition,the research enlightens people to care about personal belongings’ hygiene to prevent the infection of diseases caused by inadvertent contact.