Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T22:41:32.776Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Cultural adaptations to the differential threats posed by hot versus cold climates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2013

Damian R. Murray*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC V6T 1Z4, Canada. [email protected]://www2.psych.ubc.ca/~dmurray

Abstract

Hot and cold climates have posed differential threats to human survival throughout history. Cold temperatures can pose direct threats to survival in themselves, whereas hot temperatures may pose threats indirectly through higher prevalence of infectious disease. These differential threats yield convergent predictions for the relationship between more demanding climates and freedom of expression, but divergent predictions for freedom from discrimination.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Armelagos, G. J. & Dewey, J. R. (1970) Evolutionary response to human infectious diseases. BioScience 20:271–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Black, F. L. (1975) Infectious diseases in primitive societies. Science 187:515–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burton, F. D. (2009) Fire: The spark that ignited human evolution. University of New Mexico Press.Google Scholar
Epstein, P. R. (1999) Climate and health. Science 285:347–48.Google Scholar
Fabrega, H. (1997) Earliest phases in the evolution of sickness and healing. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 11:2655.Google Scholar
Faulkner, J., Schaller, M., Park, J. H. & Duncan, L. A. (2004) Evolved disease-avoidance mechanisms and contemporary xenophobic attitudes. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 7:333–53.Google Scholar
Fincher, C. L. & Thornhill, R. (2008) Assortive sociality, limited dispersal, infectious disease and the genesis of the global pattern of religious diversity. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 275:2587–94.Google Scholar
Gallup, J. L. & Sachs, J. D. (2001) The economic burden of malaria. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 64:8596.Google Scholar
Gurven, M. & Kaplan, H. (2007) Longevity among hunter–gatherers: A cross-cultural examination. Population and Development Review 33:321–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hassler, S., Johansson, R., Sjölander, P., Grönberg, H. & Damber, L. (2005) Causes of death in the Sami population of Sweden, 1961–2000. International Journal of Epidemiology 34:623–29.Google Scholar
Inhorn, M. C. & Brown, P. J. (1990) The anthropology of infectious disease. Annual Review of Anthropology 19:89–17.Google Scholar
Kurzban, R., & Leary, M. R. (2001) Evolutionary origins of stigmatization: The functions of social exclusion. Psychological Bulletin, 127:187208.Google Scholar
Murray, D. R. & Schaller, M. (2010) Historical prevalence of disease within 230 geopolitical regions: A tool for investigating origins of culture. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 41:99108.Google Scholar
Murray, D. R. & Schaller, M. (2012) Threat(s) and conformity deconstructed: Perceived threat of infectious disease and its implications for conformist attitudes and behavior. European Journal of Social Psychology 42:180–88.Google Scholar
Murray, D. R., Trudeau, R. & Schaller, M. (2011) On the origins of cultural differences in conformity: Four tests of the pathogen prevalence hypothesis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 37:318–29.Google Scholar
Navarrete, C. D., Fessler, D. M. T. & Eng, S. J. (2007) Elevated ethnocentrism in the first trimester of pregnancy. Evolution and Human Behavior 28:6065.Google Scholar
Peters, P. A. (2010) Causes and contributions to differences in life expectancy for Inuit Nunangat and Canada, 1994–2003. International Journal of Circumpolar Health 69:3849.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schaller, M. & Murray, D. R. (2010) Infectious diseases and the evolution of cross-cultural differences. In: Evolution, culture, and the human mind, ed. Schaller, M., Norenzayan, A., Heine, S. J., Yamagishi, T. & Kameda, T., pp. 243–56. Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Wu, B. P. & Chang, L. (2012) The social impact of pathogen threat: How disease salience influences conformity. Personality and Individual Differences 53:5054.CrossRefGoogle Scholar