Xenophobia in the Time of a Pandemic: Social Media Use, Stereotypes, and Prejudice against Immigrants during the COVID-19 Crisis

Perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic and government response among Turkish-speaking immigrants in Germany during the initial lockdown period

Understanding the socioeconomic and health impacts of the pandemic and their consequences on immigrants necessitates consideration of how they have perceived the global threat. By applying agenda-setting theory to Turkish-speaking immigrants in Germany as a case study, I investigated what issues created a sense of urgency for them during the initial lockdown and how they approached the government's COVID-19-related agenda. I used purposeful sampling and video comments on COVID-19-related news created by three journalists on YouTube channels and applied qualitative content analysis to interpret the comments. Analysis of 118 comments and 68 replies showed that social media played an important role in immigrants' awareness of COVID-19, especially about authorities' responses, pandemic-related measures, and economic aid packages. Immigrants perceived the information as cause for concern and reactions varied by socioeconomic status. Comments not only supported authorities pandemic strategies but also indicated doubts caused by lack of transparency, certain recommendations, regulations, and aid.

Political orientation, trust and discriminatory beliefs during the COVID-19 pandemic: Longitudinal evidence from the United Kingdom

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the world in many ways; for example, evidence from the United Kingdom indicates that higher rates of discriminatory behaviours against immigrants have been recorded during this period. Prior research suggests that political orientation and trust are instrumental in discriminatory beliefs against immigrants. A longitudinal study (six waves and a follow-up) was conducted in the United Kingdom during the COVID-19 pandemic (September 2020-August 2021) using convenience sampling (N = 383). The hypotheses enquired about whether political orientation predicts trust in government, trust in science and discriminatory beliefs. Multilevel regression and mediation analyses were conducted, using repeated measures nested within individuals. It was found that conservative views are associated with higher discriminatory beliefs, lower trust in science and higher trust in government. Furthermore, trust in science promotes reduction of discrimination, whereas trust in government, increases discriminatory beliefs. However, a nuance revealed by an interaction effect, shows that a positive alignment between political and scientific authorities may be required to reduce prejudice against immigrants. Exploratory multilevel mediation showed that trust is a mediator between political orientation and discriminatory beliefs.

The scar that takes time to heal: A systematic review of COVID-19-related stigma targets, antecedents, and outcomes

COVID-19, as a crucial public health crisis, has affected our lives in nearly every aspect. Besides its major health threats, COVID-19 brings severe secondary impacts, one of which is the rise of social stigma. Although numerous studies have examined the antecedents and outcomes of COVID-19-related stigma, we still lack a systematic understanding of who is being stigmatized during the COVID-19 pandemic, what exacerbates COVID-19-related stigma, and what impacts COVID-19-related stigma has on victims. Therefore, this review aims to provide a systematic overview of COVID-19-related stigma. With 93 papers conducted with 126,371 individuals in more than 150 countries and territories spanning five continents, we identify three targets that have received the most research: Chinese/Asian people, (suspected) patients and survivors, and healthcare workers. Furthermore, we find that for each stigma target, characteristics of the stigmatized, stigmatizer, and context contribute to COVID-19-related stigma and that this stigma negatively influences victims' health and non-health outcomes. We call for future research to provide a more integrative, balanced, and rigorous picture of COVID-19-related stigma via conducting research on neglected topics (e.g., contextual factors that contribute to stigma toward HCWs) and stigma interventions and using a longitudinal design. In practice, we urge governments and institutions (e.g., ministries of public health, hospitals) to pay close attention to stigma issues and to promote safe and inclusive societies.

COVID-19 health certification reduces outgroup bias: evidence from a conjoint experiment in Japan

The psychological theory argues that serious threats cause negative attitudes from ingroups to outgroups. However, the factors that can reduce such outgroup bias caused by the health threats of a pandemic are unknown. Here, we provide evidence that health certifications to prove immunity or negative test result for COVID-19 reduce outgroup bias. Using a discrete choice experiment with a randomized conjoint design in Japan, we investigated public attitudes towards inbound travelers entering the country, including foreigners, immigrants, and tourists. We found that travelers carrying a vaccination certificate or a negative test result for COVID-19 have a higher probability or rating of being admitted to the country. These effects are the same size as those for travelers undergoing self-isolation. Thus, our results demonstrate that health certification can mitigate outgroup bias among ingroup members experiencing threats to health due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We anticipate that the findings would support the combined usage of vaccine passports and negative certificates to reopen the international borders.

COVID-19-Related Health Literacy of Socioeconomically Vulnerable Migrant Groups

Objective: Understand the COVID-19-related health literacy of socioeconomically vulnerable migrant groups.

Methods: We conducted a survey available in 8 languages among 2,354 members of the target population in Switzerland in 2020. We measured health literacy in four dimensions (finding, understanding, evaluating and applying health information) and assessed adherence to official recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results: Most migrants felt well informed about the pandemic. Using an extended index of health literacy, we found a moderate correlation (r = −0.28 [−0.24, −0.32]) between COVID-19-related health literacy and socioeconomic vulnerability. The most socioeconomically vulnerable migrants tended to have more difficulty finding and understanding health information about COVID-19 and adhered more to unscientific theses that were not part of the official communication.

Conclusion: Special communication efforts by public health authorities have reached most migrants, but socioeconomic vulnerability can be a barrier to taking precautions.

The Effect of VR Avatar Embodiment on Improving Attitudes and Closeness Toward Immigrants

Past research has discussed how the embodiment of an outgroup avatar in virtual reality (VR) can reduce intergroup bias. However, little is known about the mechanisms and boundary conditions that shape this effect. This study examines how the embodiment of both outgroup and ingroup VR avatars in different orders influences attitudes and perceived closeness toward a co-ethnic immigrant outgroup in Singapore. It also investigates the role of empathy and social identity orientation (SIO) in this relationship. An experiment with four avatar embodiment conditions (ingroup-then-outgroup, outgroup-then-ingroup, ingroup-only, and outgroup-only) was carried out with 171 participants from a public university in Singapore. Results showed that embodying an outgroup avatar alone, compared to embodying an ingroup avatar alone, significantly improves both attitudes and closeness toward an immigrant outgroup. The order of embodiment matters to an extent, suggesting the greater effectiveness of outgroup-first over ingroup-first embodiment in reducing bias. Empathy mediates the effect of all three outgroup embodiment conditions on improved attitudes and closeness toward immigrants. It was also found that the stronger one’s SIO is, the more effective embodiment is in improving perceived closeness with the outgroup via empathy. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.