Ahuja Kanika K, Banerjee Debanjan, Chaudhary Kritika, Gidwani Chehak
Department of Psychology, Lady Shriram College for Women, University of Delhi, Delhi, India.
Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, India.
Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2021 Feb;67(1):46-53. doi: 10.1177/0020764020936323. Epub 2020 Jul 4.
The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as a global health threat. Biological disasters like this can generate immense prejudice, xenophobia, stigma and othering, all of which have adverse consequences on health and well-being. In a country as diverse and populous in India, such crisis can trigger communalism and mutual blame. Keeping this in context, this study explored the relationship between well-being and xenophobic attitudes towards Muslims, collectivism and fear of COVID-19 in India.
The study was carried out on 600 non-Islamic Indians (231 males, 366 females and 3 others; mean age: 38.76 years), using convenience sampling. An online survey containing Fear of Coronavirus scale, Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale and Collectivism Scale was used. Xenophobia was assessed using two scales: generalized prejudice towards Muslims and specific xenophobic tendencies towards Muslims during COVID-19. The data were analysed using correlational methods and multiple regression.
The findings showed that positively significant relationship exists between well-being and age as well as with collectivism, while an inversely significant relationship between well-being and fear of COVID-19 was found. The results of the multiple regression analysis shows that fear of COVID-19, age, collectivism and generalized xenophobia, in the order of their importance, together contributed to nearly 20% of variance in well-being.
The findings are reflective of the importance of collectivism in enhancing well-being in these times of uncertainty. Xenophobia, one of the common offshoots of pandemics, can also harm the overall well-being. Implications are discussed in the light of India's diverse socio-religious background and global context.
2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）已成为全球健康威胁。此类生物灾难会引发巨大的偏见、仇外心理、污名化及他者化，所有这些都会对健康和幸福产生不利影响。在像印度这样多样且人口众多的国家，此类危机可能引发 communalism（ communalism 这个词在文中不太明确准确含义，可能是社群主义之类的，需结合更多背景知识确定，暂且按原文）和相互指责。在此背景下，本研究探讨了印度幸福感与对穆斯林的仇外态度、集体主义以及对COVID-19的恐惧之间的关系。
本研究采用便利抽样法，对600名非穆斯林印度人（231名男性、366名女性和3名其他人；平均年龄：38.76岁）进行了研究。使用了一份包含冠状病毒恐惧量表、沃里克 - 爱丁堡心理健康量表和集体主义量表的在线调查问卷。仇外心理通过两个量表进行评估：对穆斯林的普遍偏见以及在COVID-19期间对穆斯林的特定仇外倾向。数据采用相关方法和多元回归进行分析。
研究结果表明，幸福感与年龄以及集体主义之间存在显著正相关，而幸福感与对COVID-19的恐惧之间存在显著负相关。多元回归分析结果显示，按照重要性顺序，对COVID-19的恐惧、年龄、集体主义和普遍仇外心理共同导致了幸福感近20%的方差变化。
研究结果反映了集体主义在这些不确定时期增强幸福感方面的重要性。仇外心理是大流行的常见附带产物之一，也会损害整体幸福感。鉴于印度多样的社会宗教背景和全球背景，对相关影响进行了讨论。
