202511.05
How Does the Infection Threat Change Our Social Orientation? (Publication)
Posted in RESEARCH
Does the fear of infection fundamentally alter how people relate to others and to society?
Discussed in fields ranging from epidemiology to social psychology, this question has so far been examined mainly through indirect approaches such as cross-regional data comparisons. However, no research has directly tested how individuals’ perceptions of infectious disease affect their social orientation.
To address this gap, the present study conducted two experiments with Japanese participants. Participants were shown either infection-related or unrelated images, and their levels of individualism and collectivism were measured through questionnaires administered before and after the image presentation.The results revealed that visual stimuli heightening concern about infection led to changes in social orientation—not an increase in collectivism as previously assumed, but a consistent rise in horizontal individualism, a value orientation emphasizing equality among autonomous individuals.
This study is the first to demonstrate a causal relationship between infectious disease threats and social orientation. The findings were published in Personality and Individual Differences.
Infection changes social orientations: The effect of disease salience on shifts in individualism and collectivism
Jeyoon Choi, Motoaki Sugiura Personality and Individual Differences, 2026 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2025.113524
Does the fear of infection fundamentally alter how people relate to others and to society?
Discussed in fields ranging from epidemiology to social psychology, this question has so far been examined mainly through indirect approaches such as cross-regional data comparisons. However, no research has directly tested how individuals’ perceptions of infectious disease affect their social orientation.
To address this gap, the present study conducted two experiments with Japanese participants. Participants were shown either infection-related or unrelated images, and their levels of individualism and collectivism were measured through questionnaires administered before and after the image presentation.The results revealed that visual stimuli heightening concern about infection led to changes in social orientation—not an increase in collectivism as previously assumed, but a consistent rise in horizontal individualism, a value orientation emphasizing equality among autonomous individuals.
This study is the first to demonstrate a causal relationship between infectious disease threats and social orientation. The findings were published in Personality and Individual Differences.
Infection changes social orientations: The effect of disease salience on shifts in individualism and collectivism
Jeyoon Choi, Motoaki Sugiura
Personality and Individual Differences, 2026
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2025.113524