“Spanish Flu”: When Infectious Disease Names Blur Origins and Stigmatize Those Infected

Hoppe, Trevor

doi:10.2105/ajph.2018.304645

Cited by 55 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Similarly, some news sources and officials have devoted considerable time to criticizing Chinese cultural practices or otherwise blaming China for the outbreak (Chiu, 2020). Numerous criticisms have been raised regarding this type of framing because of its potential to fuel prejudice and encourage discriminatory behaviors (Hoppe, 2018). The social cognition perspective summarized above aligns with these criticisms, underscoring how framing and repeated messaging that stigmatizes China can inform attitudes and social judgments.…”

Section: Media Institutions and Covid-prejudicementioning

confidence: 94%

The Role of News Consumption and Trust in Public Health Leadership in Shaping COVID-19 Knowledge and Prejudice

Dhanani

Franz

2020

Front. Psychol.

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The novelty of COVID-19 has created unique challenges to successful public health efforts because it has required the public to quickly learn and formulate knowledge and attitudes about the virus as information becomes available. The need to stay apprised of new information has also created a critical role for mass media and public institutions in shaping the public's knowledge of, attitudes about, and responses to the unfolding pandemic. In this study, we examine how media consumption and reliance on specific institutions for information shapes three critical outcomes associated with public health epidemics: the accumulation of knowledge and the endorsement of misinformation about COVID-19, and prejudicial responses to the virus. We surveyed 1,141 adults residing across the United States in March 2020. Using multivariate regression and t-tests, we found that participants had greater knowledge, were less likely to endorse misinformation, and reported less bias toward Asian Americans when they had higher trust in the CDC and lower trust in President Trump. Reliance on certain news formats and sources was also associated with knowledge, misinformation, and prejudice. Our findings suggest that trust and news consumption can pose critical barriers to health literacy and foster negative prejudicial responses that further undermine public health efforts surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Section: Media Institutions and Covid-prejudicementioning

confidence: 94%

The Role of News Consumption and Trust in Public Health Leadership in Shaping COVID-19 Knowledge and Prejudice

Dhanani

Franz

2020

Front. Psychol.

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“…Indeed, evidence of pandemics triggering bias dates back at least to the 1918 influenza outbreak. Despite not originating in Spain, the virus became known as the “Spanish flu” which led to stigmatization of Spanish nationals (Hoppe 2018 ). Similarly, there was an outbreak of the bubonic plague in India in 1994 and, despite being localized to one region, the stigma of the disease led to many countries banning travel and imports from the entire nation (Barrett and Brown 2008 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unexpected public health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic: a national survey examining anti-Asian attitudes in the USA

Dhanani

Franz

2020

Int J Public Health

106

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Objectives This paper empirically examines whether and how COVID-19 may be activating bias and discrimination toward individuals of Asian descent. Methods 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. Results 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). Conclusions 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.

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“…Studies on stigma related to infectious diseases have revealed that it is not only individual patients who face stigma from infectious diseases, but can also be entire racial or ethnic groups who have or are perceived as having a higher likelihood of being infected [22]. Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, was the most severely affected area during the COVID-19 epidemic in China.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19-related stigma and its' influencing factors: a rapid nationwide study in China

Jiang¹,

Zhou²,

Lin³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background：COVID-19 poses a signiﬁcant challenge to global public health. During the pandemic, COVID-19 patients and people in outbreak areas have suffered from stigma associated with the disease. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of COVID-19-related stigma toward COVID-19 patients and people from the city of Wuhan in China and assess the association of COVID-19-related stigma, health literacy, and sociodemographic characteristics.Methods：A cross-sectional survey covering 5,039 respondents was conducted in 31 provinces in China using a convenience sampling method. Binary logistic regressions were used to identify the factors associated with COVID-19-related stigma.Results：Among the participants, 122 (2.4%) reported themselves and 254 (5.0%) reported the communities they lived in held a stigmatizing attitude toward COVID-19 patients, respectively. Additionally, 114 (2.5%) and 475 (10.3%) reported that themselves and the communities they lived in, respectively, held a stigma against people from Wuhan, where was the most severely affected area in China. People aged over 40, lived in areas with severe epidemics (aOR=2.15, 95% CI [1.12-4.13]), and who felt it difficult to find and understand information about COVID-19 (aOR=1.91, 95% CI [1.08-3.27]; aOR=1.88, 95% CI [1.08-3.29]) were more likely to stigmatize COVID-19 patients. People who were male, aged 41 to 50, and had difficulty understanding information (aOR=2.08, 95% CI [1.17-3.69]) were more likely to stigmatize people from Wuhan.Conclusions：COVID-19 patients and Wuhan residents suffered stigma at both the individual and community levels, although proportion of those holding a stigma was not very high. Provinces close to Wuhan had relatively high stigma toward COVID-19 patients and people from Wuhan. There was a correlation between better health literacy and lower stigma during the COVID-19 outbreak. Tailored interventions were encouraged to improve health literacy and consequently to reduce stigma toward both COVID-19 patients and Wuhan people from individual and community levels, respectively.

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“Spanish Flu”: When Infectious Disease Names Blur Origins and Stigmatize Those Infected

Cited by 55 publications

References 14 publications

The Role of News Consumption and Trust in Public Health Leadership in Shaping COVID-19 Knowledge and Prejudice

The Role of News Consumption and Trust in Public Health Leadership in Shaping COVID-19 Knowledge and Prejudice

Unexpected public health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic: a national survey examining anti-Asian attitudes in the USA

COVID-19-related stigma and its' influencing factors: a rapid nationwide study in China

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