Grooming the Naked Ape: Do Perceptions of Disease and Aggression Vulnerability Influence Grooming Behaviour in Humans? A Comparative Ethological Perspective

The study considers effects of the psychological perceptions of disease and conspecific aggression on the grooming behaviour of Homo sapiens. Measures employed included: self-reported grooming frequency and perceived vulnerability to conspecific aggression questionnaires, which were developed for this study; and the 15-item Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Scale PVD (Duncan et al., Personality and Individual Differences 47:541-546, 2009). Participants were a self-selecting sample of 129 females and 39 males, aged between 16 and 63. It was found that individuals scoring highly in Perceived Vulnerability to Disease reported higher frequencies of autogrooming and lower frequencies of allogrooming. Individuals who scored highly in Perceived Vulnerability to Conspecific Aggression reported higher frequencies of autogrooming, however no significant difference was found in terms of allogrooming frequency. The study represents an initial attempt at considering psychological perceptions of disease and aggression on human grooming behaviours from a comparative ethological perspective. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.