Avoiding Extraverts: Pathogen Concern Downregulates Preferences for Extraverted Faces

Abstract

Past research indicates that salient concerns with infectious disease reduce individuals’ self-reporting of extraverted personality trait characteristics, an adaptive response to mitigate exposure to pathogenically threatening conspecifics. Additionally, individuals are capable of accurately inferring another person’s level of extraversion from facial cues alone. Extending these findings, we hypothesized that disease concerns should result in a reduced preference for extraverts, as indexed by facial cues, given that such persons may comprise a greater disease threat due to increased contact with a greater number of conspecifics. To test this hypothesis, participants were randomly assigned to either disease or control prime conditions, reported face preferences among face pairs containing target faces manipulated to communicate extraversion or introversion, and indicated dispositional pathogen concerns. Contrary to hypotheses, acute disease activation did not influence face preferences. However, men with dispositionally higher perceived infectability (PI) demonstrated reduced preferences for extraverted female faces, whereas higher PI in women predicted a reduced preference for extraverted male faces. This relationship between higher PI and reduced preferences for extraverted faces provides partial support for the hypothesis that pathogen concerns facilitate stronger preferences for reticent individuals, an adaptive response to mitigate contact with disease vectors.