Homophobia 'Hard-Wired' Into Brain Study Claims [View All]

[davidinalameda]

http://www.365gay.com/newscon05/05/052605prejudice.htm

Prejudice is a form of "common sense", hard-wired into the human brain through evolution as an adaptive response to protect our prehistoric ancestors from danger, according to a new study by researchers at Arizona State University.

"By nature, people are group-living animals -- a strategy that enhances individual survival and leads to what we might call a 'tribal psychology'," says Steven Neuberg, ASU professor of social psychology, who authored the study with doctoral student Catherine Cottrell.

"It was adaptive for our ancestors to be attuned to those outside the group who posed threats such as to physical security, health or economic resources, and to respond to these different kinds of threats in ways tailored to have a good chance of reducing them."