Risky business: linking Toxoplasma gondii infection and entrepreneurship behaviours across individuals and countries.

ABSTRACT: Disciplines such as business and economics often rely on the assumption of rationality when explaining complex human behaviours. However, growing evidence suggests that behaviour may concurrently be influenced by infectious microorganisms. The protozoan Toxoplasma gondii infects an estimated 2 billion people worldwide and has been linked to behavioural alterations in humans and other vertebrates. Here we integrate primary data from college students and business professionals with national-level information on cultural attitudes towards business to test the hypothesis that T. gondii infection influences individual- as well as societal-scale entrepreneurship activities. Using a saliva-based assay, we found that students (n = 1495) who tested IgG positive for T. gondii

SUBMITTER: Johnson SK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6083268 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature