Covid-19 and xenophobia in America: media exposure, anti-Asian stigmatization, and deservingness of Asian immigrants

ABSTRACT

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, there has been a significant uptick in anti-Asian sentiment in the United States. Many believe these racist attitudes are cultivated by polarizing political messages and news coverage of the pandemic. Based on a 2021 online survey conducted among 913 White Americans, this study examines possible associations between exposure to pandemic-related news, anti-Asian stigmatization, and the perceived deservingness of Asian immigrants. The findings indicate that the consumption of pandemic-related news on Fox News and social media is associated with higher levels of anti-Asian stigmatization, while exposure to such news on traditional media outlets is not. As expected, respondents with higher levels of anti-Asian stigmatization perceive Asian immigrants as less deserving to come to the United States. Among the five criteria of a newly developed immigrant deservingness scale, especially identity, attitude, and need are associated with anti-Asian stigmatization.

KEYWORDS:

• Partisan news media
• Covid-19
• pandemic
• anti-Asian stigmatization
• Asian immigrants
• immigrant deservingness

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by John Ben Snow Foundation.

Notes on contributors

Lars Willnat

Lars Willnat (Ph.D., Indiana University) is the John Ben Snow Research Professor in the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. His research focuses on journalism studies, political communication, and comparative survey research.

Jian Shi

Jian Shi (Ph.D., Syracuse University) is a researcher at the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies, China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration. Most of her research falls under the umbrella of international communication and digital media effects.

David De Coninck

David De Coninck (Ph.D., KU Leuven) is a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Sociological Research and the Institute for Media Studies, KU Leuven.