Who’s to blame for the spread of COVID-19 in New Zealand? Applying attribution theory to understand public stigma

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought increased discrimination, stigma, and racism toward individuals of Asian descent. Little research has concentrated on public perceptions regarding who is to blame for the spread of the virus. This study extends integrated threat and attribution theories by examining the extent to which prejudice against Asians is related to blame attribution in New Zealand. The paper employs a mixed-method approach (n = 330). The findings suggest that to understand public stigma in ambiguous crises/events, it is significant to look beyond theoretic frameworks. Particularly, this research provides better understanding of how blame attribution has developed and linked with threats in the pandemic. First, fear of contact with COVID-19 is positively related to symbolic and realistic threats. Second, the more people believe COVID-19 is a public health risk, the more symbolic and realistic threats they have. Third, realistic threat is linked to blame attribution.

KEYWORDS:

• Prejudice
• integrated threat theory
• attribution theory
• COVID-19

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Thao Nguyen

Thao Nguyen is a doctoral candidate in the School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing at Massey University.

Stephen M. Croucher

Stephen M. Croucher is a Professor and Head of the School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing at Massey University. He is also a Lead Research Fellow at the National Research University, Higher School of Economics, Russia.

Audra Diers-Lawson

Audra Diers-Lawson is a Senior Lecturer and Research Lead at Leeds Beckett University. 

Elena Maydell

Elena Maydell is a Senior Tutor in the School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing at Massey University.