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Disease and prejudice: risk attribution to ethno-racial groups over the course of a pandemic

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  • Bogatzki, Tamara
  • Glaese, Jana Catalina
  • Stier, Julia

Abstract

Past research suggests that disease outbreaks drive prejudice towards minorities as they increase economic and disease threats. Based on an open-ended survey question distributed to 7,902 German residents over the course of one year of the Covid-19 pandemic (April 2020 to April 2021), we investigate the link between life-threatening events and ethno-racial prejudice. We find that pandemic-related threats only drive respondents’ tendency to scapegoat ethno-racial groups if they hold left and center leaning ideologies. However, for far-right supporters who are the most likely to attribute the spread of Covid-19 to ethno-racial groups, pandemic-related threats do not affect that attribution. We further find that threat theories are of limited relevance for explaining which ethno-racial groups are targeted: respondents held Chinese accountable at the beginning of the pandemic but quickly shifted their attention to immigrants – a salient figure in pre-Covid-19 rightist rhetoric. We show that ideology, more than pandemic-induced threat, continues to drive prejudice and demonstrate the under-utilized advantages of using open-ended survey questions for understanding the dynamics of intergroup prejudice.

Suggested Citation

  • Bogatzki, Tamara & Glaese, Jana Catalina & Stier, Julia, 2023. "Disease and prejudice: risk attribution to ethno-racial groups over the course of a pandemic," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue Latest Ar, pages 1-23.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:295127
    DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2023.2235084
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Aarøe, Lene & Petersen, Michael Bang & Arceneaux, Kevin, 2017. "The Behavioral Immune System Shapes Political Intuitions: Why and How Individual Differences in Disgust Sensitivity Underlie Opposition to Immigration," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 111(2), pages 277-294, May.
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