01871nas a2200349   4500000000100000008004100001260001700042653001000059653002500069653002300094653002000117653002600137653000900163653001100172653001100183653000900194653001400203653002400217653002000241653001700261653001900278653001600297100001100313700001400324700001800338245013100356300001100487490000800498050001400506520098700520022001401507       2013                            d  c2013 Mar-Apr10aAdult10aAnalysis of Variance10aAttitude to Health10aChoice Behavior10aCommunicable Diseases10aCues10aFemale10aHumans10aMale10aPrejudice10aSocial Desirability10aSocial Distance10aStereotyping10aUnited Kingdom10aYoung Adult1 aPark J1 aLeeuwen F1 aChochorelou Y00aDisease-avoidance processes and stigmatization: cues of substandard health arouse heightened discomfort with physical contact.  a212-280 v153  aPARK 20133 a<p>An evolutionary approach to stigmatization suggests that disease-avoidance processes contribute to some instances of social exclusion. Disease-avoidance processes are over-inclusive, targeting even non-threatening individuals who display cues of substandard health. We investigated whether such cues motivate avoidance of physical contact in particular. In Studies 1 and 2, targets with disease (e.g., leprosy) or atypical morphologies (e.g., amputated leg, obesity) were found to arouse differentially heightened discomfort with physical (versus nonphysical) contact, whereas a criminal target (stigmatized for disease-irrelevant reasons) was found to arouse elevated discomfort for both types of contact. Study 3 used a between-subjects design that eliminated the influence of extraneous factors. A diseased target was found to arouse differentially heightened discomfort with physical (versus nonphysical) contact, and to do so more strongly than any other type of target.</p>  a0022-4545