Xenophobia in the time of pandemic: othering, anti-Asian attitudes, and COVID-19

Abstract

As the number of COVID-19 cases rose in the US and around the world in early 2020, conservative elites in the US racialized the pandemic, referring to the coronavirus as the "Chinese flu" or the "Wuhan virus." Existing research suggests that this linking of the viral pandemic to a social group will "activate" anti-Asian attitudes in the mass public, helping bring those attitudes to bear on behaviors and attitudes related to COVID-19. Despite anecdotal evidence of a spike in discriminatory behavior targeted at Asians across western countries, little empirical evidence for this "othering" hypothesis exists. Using a large survey (n = 4311) benchmarked to national demographics, we analyze the relationship between attitudes toward Asian Americans, xenophobia, concern about contracting the coronavirus, and a variety of behavioral outcomes and policy attitudes. We find evidence that anti-Asian attitudes are associated with concern about the virus but also with xenophobic behaviors and policy preferences. These relationships are unique to Asian American attitudes, are not related to attitudes toward other outgroups, and do not hold for a variety of placebo outcomes. Together our findings suggest that anti-Asian attitudes were activated and were associated with a variety of COVID-19 attitudes and behaviors in the early stages of the pandemic.

Are Populist Leaders Creating the Conditions for the Spread of COVID-19? Comment on "A Scoping Review of Populist Radical Right Parties’ Influence on Welfare Policy and its Implications for Population Health in Europe"

“…30 Second, COVID-19 is intensifying the spread of online disinformation, 27,31 which may further erode trust in experts and mainstream institutions, fuelling support for antiestablishment and populist narratives. Third, consistent with historical linkages between epidemic threats and xenophobia, 32 emerging evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered anti-Asian and anti-immigrant sentiments, 33,34 views that align with populist rhetoric promising to protect a pure and (ethnically) homogenous people.…”

Between Conspiracy Beliefs, Ingroup Bias, and System Justification: How People Use Defense Strategies to Cope With the Threat of COVID-19

“…At the same time, nationalist tendencies (Bieber, 2020) and resentments against outgroups, especially those associated with COVID-19 (e.g., Chinese citizens, Asian-Americans) have been on the rise, too (Lee, 2020). As a consequence, increased discrimination against these groups were registered across countries (Reny and Barreto, 2020;Schild et al, 2020).…”

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“…Similarly, the over-use of police powers in pandemic preparedness for respiratory illnesses has been flagged as an area of concern by civil liberties advocates. [ 29 ] Additionally, associating illnesses with marginalized groups is a longstanding and harmful effect of pandemics, and this has occurred in the case of COVID-19 for Asian people as the result of xenophobic discourse surrounding the virus’s origin in Wuhan, China [ 30 ]. Using law enforcement to manage public health problems creates environments of fear and cycles of punishment that harm affected people and do not support positive behavioral changes [ 31 ].…”