Department of Psychology, Ohio University, 22 Richland Avenue, Athens, OH, 45701, USA.
Department of Social Medicine, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ohio University, Grosvenor 311, Athens, OH, 45701, USA.
Int J Public Health. 2020 Jul;65(6):747-754. doi: 10.1007/s00038-020-01440-0. Epub 2020 Jul 29.
This paper empirically examines whether and how COVID-19 may be activating bias and discrimination toward individuals of Asian descent.
In March 2020, we used a national online survey to collect data from 1141 US residents. Using descriptive statistics and multivariate regression, we estimated the prevalence and COVID-19-related predictors of bias toward people of Asian descent.
We found over 40% of our sample reported they would engage in at least one discriminatory behavior toward people of Asian descent. Respondents who were fearful of COVID-19 (b = .09, p < 0.001) and had less accurate knowledge about the virus (b = - .07, p < 0.001) reported more negative attitudes toward Asians as did respondents with less trust in science (b = - .06, p < 0.001) and more trust in President Trump (b = .04, p < 0.001).
Public health leaders must confront fear of the virus, improve knowledge, and bolster trust in science as these factors may evoke negative attitudes toward Asians and increase prejudice and discrimination. Specifically, our findings warrant the adoption of public health campaigns that provide health information and build trust in scientific knowledge.
本文通过实证研究，考察了 COVID-19 是否以及如何加剧了人们对亚洲裔个体的偏见和歧视。
2020 年 3 月，我们使用全国性在线调查从 1141 名美国居民中收集数据。采用描述性统计和多元回归分析，我们估计了对亚洲裔的偏见的流行程度和与 COVID-19 相关的预测因素。
我们发现，我们的样本中有超过 40%的人表示他们至少会对亚洲裔实施一种歧视行为。对 COVID-19 感到恐惧的受访者（b=0.09，p<0.001）和对病毒知识掌握程度较低的受访者（b=-0.07，p<0.001）对亚洲人的态度更为消极，而对科学信任度较低的受访者（b=-0.06，p<0.001）和对特朗普总统信任度较高的受访者（b=0.04，p<0.001）也是如此。
公共卫生领导者必须应对对病毒的恐惧，提高知识水平，并增强对科学的信任，因为这些因素可能会引发对亚洲人的负面态度，并增加偏见和歧视。具体而言，我们的研究结果表明需要采取公共卫生宣传措施，提供健康信息并增强对科学知识的信任。
