Impact of national pandemic lockdowns on perceived threat of immigrants: a natural quasi-experiment across 23 countries

• Main Authors: Han, Qing, Zheng, Bang, Leander, N Pontus, Agostini, Maximilian, Gutzkow, Ben, Kreienkamp, Jannis, Kutlaca, Maja, Lemay Jr., Edward P, Stroebe, Wolfgang, vanDellen, Michelle R, Collaboration, PsyCorona, Abdul Khaiyom, Jamilah Hanum, Belanger, Jocelyn J
• Format: Article
• Language: English; English
• Published: SAGE 2022
• Subjects: BF Psychology; BF180 Experimental psychology; HM Sociology; HM1001 Social psychology; HM1106 Interpersonal relations. Social behavior; HM1176 Social influence. Social pressure; RA Public aspects of medicine; RA643 Communicable Diseases and Public Health; RA644.C67 Coronavirus infections. COVID-19 (Disease). COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/103511/2/103511_Impact%20of%20national%20pandemic%20lockdowns_SCOPUS.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/103511/3/103511_Impact%20of%20national%20pandemic%20lockdowns.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/103511/; https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/19485506221127487; https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506221127487

Xenophobia and anti-immigrant attacks rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet this may not be solely due to the disease threat. According to theories of frustration and scapegoating, situational obstructions and deprivation can motivate prejudice against outgroups. Using a global natural quasi-experimental design, this study tests whether the restrictiveness of national lock-downs can explain higher individual-level perceptions of immigrant threat. Data of 45,894 participants from 23 countries were analyzed. Both lockdown duration and lockdown severity were positively associated with individuals’ perceived threat of immi-grants. The lockdown effects were independent of objective and subjective measures of disease threat, and there was no evi-dence that disease threat drives people’s prejudice toward immigrants. Subgroup analysis suggested the lockdown effects were reliable in Europe and the Americas, but not in Asia. These findings suggest a need to mitigate frustration and scapegoating when implementing lockdowns, and to distinguish the influence of societal restrictions from disease threat.