Change in anti‐COVID‐19 behaviour and anti‐immigrant prejudice during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Longitudinal evidence from five European countries

During a pandemic, it is vital to identify factors that motivate individuals to behave in ways that limit virus transmission (i.e., anti‐COVID‐19 behaviour). Fear has been suggested to motivate health‐oriented behaviour, yet fear of the virus (i.e., fear of COVID‐19) could have unintended consequences, such as an increase in anti‐immigrant prejudice. In a three‐wave longitudinal study (NT1 = 4275) in five European countries from April to October 2020, we investigated how social norms, the impact of the pandemic on individuals, and intergroup contact affected fear of COVID‐19 and—or in turn—anti‐COVID‐19 behaviour and prejudice towards immigrants. A latent change score model—distinguishing between intra‐ and inter‐individual changes in outcomes—indicated that fear of COVID‐19 influenced neither anti‐COVID‐19 behaviour nor prejudice. Anti‐COVID‐19 behaviour was increased by anti‐COVID‐19 norms (i.e., belief that others perform anti‐COVID‐19 behaviours), while prejudice was influenced by positive and negative direct and mass‐mediated intergroup contact.

Attitudes toward children: Distinguishing affection and stress.

BACKGROUND: Adults' views and behaviors toward children can vary from being supportive to shockingly abusive, and there are significant unanswered questions about the psychological factors underpinning this variability. OBJECTIVE: The present research examined the content of adults' attitudes toward children to address these questions. METHOD: Ten studies (N = 4702) identified the factor structure of adults' descriptions of babies, toddlers, and school-age children and examined how the resulting factors related to a range of external variables. RESULTS: Two factors emerged-affection toward children and stress elicited by them-and this factor structure was invariant across the United Kingdom, the United States, and South Africa. Affection uniquely captures emotional approach tendencies, concern for others, and broad positivity in evaluations, experiences, motivations, and donation behavior. Stress relates to emotional instability, emotional avoidance, and concern about disruptions to a self-oriented, structured life. The factors also predict distinct experiences in a challenging situation-home-parenting during COVID-19 lockdown-with affection explaining greater enjoyment and stress explaining greater perceived difficulty. Affection further predicts mentally visualizing children as pleasant and confident, whereas stress predicts mentally visualizing children as less innocent. CONCLUSIONS: These findings offer fundamental new insights about social cognitive processes in adults that impact adult-child relationships and children's well-being.

Intergroup Contact, Traditional and Social Media Use, and Attitudes Toward Chinese People in COVID-19: US College Students' Perspective

Guided by cultivation theory and intergroup contact theory, we examined how U.S. college students' traditional media use and social media use for information about COVID-19, and direct contact with Chinese were associated with their behavioral attitudes toward Chinese people in this survey study. Findings indicated that contact quality was positively associated with attitudes toward Chinese people. Moderation analyses indicated that traditional media use negatively predicted behavioral attitudes toward Chinese people for those with no Chinese friends and was a nonsignificant predictor for those with one or more Chinese friends. Furthermore, results indicated that social media use was positively associated with attitudes toward Chinese people for those who had high contact quality with Chinese but was a nonsignificant predictor for those who had low contact quality. Overall findings ruminate the critical role of intergroup contact quality and friendship in reducing intergroup prejudice in COVID-19.

Community Diversity Climate Impact on the Well-Being of Asian Americans Amid Anti-Asian Sentiment During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Two-Way Symmetrical Communication by Local Governments

Integrating the literature from public relations, community psychology, and minority stress theory, this study proposes and tests a model that describes the mechanism by which local governments' two-way symmetrical communication practices may affect local Asian Americans' experiences amid anti-Asian sentiment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of an online survey of 400 Asian Americans living in the United States indicated that local governments' two-way symmetrical communication practices with respect to diversity acceptance helped establish a community diversity climate. Such a perception lowered the target group's perceived stigma consciousness and fear of discrimination, which are the two main proximal stressors affecting minority members' emotions and wellbeing. Theoretical and practical implications on public relations and governmental communication are discussed.

Racism in pediatric health

SPECIAL REPORT Since the inception of the United States, social, economic, political, and scientific institutions have been built on a foundation emphasizing the inferiority of individuals related to phenotypic differences.1 This hierarchy ensconced white individuals as superior to all other groups with Native Americans and Blacks on the bottom. Some fifty years after the discovery of the genetic code, at a White House ceremony in 2000 to announce the discovery, Craig Venter, a pioneer of DNA sequencing, observed, "The concept of race has no genetic or scientific basis. With structural or institutional racism, there is decreased access to health care and resources for education, leading to lower health literacy and fewer health care providers of color.12'13 Over time, this has led to a distrust of the health care system as a whole by POC due to widely publicized historical events such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the Marion tuberculosis outbreak. [...]non-Hispanic Blacks have a higher prevalence of recurrent asthma exacerbations and hospitalizations than Whites after adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic factors.16 One study revealed that with non-Black children, poor children were 45% more likely than children who were not poor to have asthma.

Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Indigenous Peoples in Latin America: Towards Effective Post-Pandemic Policies

[...]a broad and inclusive approach to post-pandemic policy-making—one that considers Indigenous forms of knowledge whilst fostering appreciation for their cultures and lives—is needed to adequately assist Indigenous peoples in repairing the harm they have suffered as a result of COVID-19.3 COVID-19 and its deadly impact on Indigenous communities There are no less than eight hundred distinct Indigenous communities across Latin America, each with its own unique identity, culture, and [End Page 169] history. In Bolivia, for example, where Indigenous groups comprise a significant portion of the electorate (between 41 and 62 percent of the population), Latin America's first Indigenous political executive was elected in 2006.4 In most instances, however, Indigenous peoples make up only a small proportion of Latin American country populations (generally ranging from 0.5–15 percent), one factor ensuring limited political influence and the widespread marginalization of their interests.5 As a consequence, Indigenous peoples across the region entered the pandemic whilst already suffering from a range of serious economic and socio-cultural inequalities.6 Inadequate access to medical care, chronic poverty and economic marginalization, racism and prejudice, and inadequate access to education are common issues that exacerbated the impact of the pandemic.7 The World Health Organization confirmed the arrival of the pandemic in the region on February 26, 2020. [...]Indigenous mortality rates were 4.03 percent in Brazil and 19.9 percent in Mexico—significantly higher than 2.2 percent and 5.7 percent overall mortality rates in each country respectively.9 Unfortunately, the lack of regional data on, and deliberate under-reporting of, Indigenous mortality rates across much of Latin America has problematized many of the available datasets.10 In Brazil, for example, organizations such as The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples (APIB), have shown that the total number of recognized Indigenous deaths (902 persons as of April 7, 2022), undercounts the actual figure by at least 31 percent.11 Other sources, such as the Special Secretariat for Indigenous Health (SESAI), which is responsible for Indigenous medical care, also provides incomplete data on Brazilian Indigenous mortality by failing to count Indigenous urban dwellers or those who live outside of recognized government-controlled territories in their data sets.12 Such groups are among some of the most vulnerable Indigenous communities in the country, receiving little, if any, support from government agencies charged with supporting Indigenous communities.13 As a result, the scale and scope of COVID-19's impact on Indigenous Brazilians is, and for the foreseeable future will likely remain, unknowable.14 Despite a lack of adequate data across much of Latin America, a growing body of evidence indicates that Indigenous peoples were particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, and that they likely died or suffered long-term health issues in disproportionate numbers.15 In a study of Indigenous peoples in Chile, for instance, regions with larger Indigenous populations recorded a noticeable increase in overall mortality.16 Where direct data do not exist, emerging studies suggest that the medical impact of COVID-19 was likely compounded by a range of structural inequalities and environmental factors.17 Many Indigenous peoples lack access to adequate medical care. [...]disproportionate exposure to pesticides—used extensively in agricultural industries in which many Indigenous people find employment, as well as exposure to smoke inhalation—caused by out-of-control forest fires across Latin America—likely exacerbated the repertory symptoms caused by COVID-19.18 As a consequence, Indigenous peoples had to face COVID-19 not only with fewer resources, but with greater exposure to the types of pre-existing conditions known to aggravate the impact of the disease.19 Particularly high mortality rates among Indigenous elders, who act as stores of traditional knowledge, affected cultural continuity and community cohesion.20 To better understand this we spoke with a representative of the Indigenous Kaingang people, Duko Vãgfy, who explained that "[t]he worst losses [we suffered] were the elders, because they held so much knowledge about [our] people.

Concerns over COVID-19 and prejudice: Pre- and during-pandemic in Italy.

While at first the fear of COVID-19 disease spread was limited by the fact that the pandemic appeared to be confined to China, the growing emergency in Italy and the rapid escalation in positive cases and deaths have made the threat of this disease a national as well as global phenomenon. In the present research, a questionnaire was collected both before (n = 396) and during (n = 250) the outbreak of the pandemic in Italy. The aim of the research was to analyze the possible mediation of binding moral foundations on the relationship between concerns over COVID-19 and prejudice vis-à-vis immigrants. As hypothesized, the results show that concerns over COVID-19 increased greatly after the start of the Italian pandemic. Moreover, both before and during the pandemic, the relationship between concerns over COVID-19 and prejudice toward immigrants is mediated by binding moral foundations.

Addressing anti-semitism in social work education

Antisemitism, one of the oldest forms of prejudice and oppression is surging throughout the world. It ranges from verbal abuse to the destruction of property to murder. In the last two years, attacks against Jews in the United States were the overwhelming target of religion-based hate crimes. Stereotypes and myths continue to fuel prejudice and antisemitism in society. Factors such as anti-Israel sentiments, remarks by persons in power, the use of social media, white nationalism, and even the Covid 19 pandemic have contributed to its escalation.As a result of the increasing violence, the U.S. legislature held a hearing on confronting antisemitic terrorism with one outcome being that social workers and community advocates were needed to join law enforcement in the effort to heal and work for justice. Social work with its mandate to promote social justice and human rights and challenge oppression cannot ignore antisemitism and its impact on individuals and societies. However, the subject is basically ignored in the curriculum. This paper offers a brief history of antisemitism and presents guidelines and models for integrating it into social work programs.

Social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic: Xenophobic tendency and their consequences

The Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic process caused problems in various fields in societies. Particularly the problems in the field of health and economy reached a certain point, and studies in these areas have intensified. In addition, the pandemic also increased psychosocial problems among individuals in the society. With the spread of the virus, people's living conditions changed. Their lives were restricted due to the physical distancing measures taken, and this led to the occurrence of various psychological problems. The negativities in their living conditions and the problems they are exposed to led people to look for scapegoats. Therefore, negative attitudes towards migrants who are regarded as foreigners began to spread in the society. Considered as fear, hatred and prejudice towards foreigners, xenophobia increased. In the present study, it is aimed to evaluate the factors that lead to xenophobic tendencies, the effects of xenophobic tendencies and various steps to prevent xenophobic tendencies during the COVID-19 pandemic process. In this regard, the relevant literature has been reviewed. The spread of xenophobic tendencies in the society is seen as an important risk in ensuring social cohesion. Thus, xenophobic tendencies should be prevented. As such, necessary steps should be taken to prevent unfounded information and prejudices about migrants during the pandemic process. Particular attention should be paid to the influence of the media and politicians. Social and economic inequalities experienced by migrants should be eliminated. Their access to social and judicial institutions, and educational and healthcare establishment in the society should be facilitated. Effective mental health services should be provided in order to reduce the negative impacts of xenophobic tendencies on migrants. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Turkish) Koronavirus hastaligi-19 (COVID-19) pandemisi surecinde, toplumlarda cesitli alanlarda sorunlar yasanmistir. Ozellikle saglik ve ekonomi alanindaki sorunlar onemli noktalara ulasmis ve bu alanlardaki calismalar yogunlasmistir. Ote yandan pandeminin toplumda bireyler arasinda psikososyal sorunlari da artirdigi gorulmustur. Virusun yayilmasiyla birlikte insanlarin yasam kosullari degismistir. Alinan fiziksel mesafe onlemleri kapsaminda yasamlari kisitlanmis ve bu durum cesitli psikolojik sorunlarin ortaya cikmasina neden olmustur. Yasam kosullarindaki olumsuzluklar ve maruz kalinan sorunlar, insanlari gunah kecisi aramaya yonlendirmistir. Sonuc olarak toplumda yabanci olarak degerlendirilen gocmenlere yonelik olumsuz tutumlar yayginlasmaya baslamistir. Yabancilara karsi korku, nefret ve on yargi olarak degerlendirilen zenofobi artmistir. Mevcut calismada COVID-19 pandemisi surecinde zenofobik egilimlere yol acan faktorler, zenofobik egilimlerin etkileri ve zenofobik egilimleri onlemeye yonelik cesitli adimlarin degerlendirilmesi amaclanmistir. Bu amacla ilgili literatur gozden gecirilmistir. Toplumda zenofobik egilimlerin yayginlasmasi, sosyal uyumun saglanmasi konusunda onemli bir risk olarak degerlendirilmektedir. Bu nedenle zenofobik egilimlerin onlenmesi gerekmektedir. Bu kapsamda pandemi surecinde gocmenlere dair asilsiz bilgilerin ve on yargilarin onune gecilmesi icin gerekli adimlar atilmalidir. Ozellikle medyanin ve politikacilarin etkisi dikkate alinmalidir. Gocmenlerin yasadigi sosyal ve ekonomik esitsizlikler giderilmelidir. Toplumdaki sosyal ve adli kurumlara, egitim ve saglik hizmeti sunan kuruluslara erisimleri kolaylastirilmalidir. Zenofobik egilimlerin gocmenler uzerindeki olumsuz etkilerini azaltmak icin etkin ruh sagligi hizmeti sunulmalidir. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

U.S. HATE CRIME TRENDS: WHAT DISAGGREGATION OF THREE DECADES OF DATA REVEALS ABOUT A CHANGING THREAT AND AN INVISIBLE RECORD

When prejudice-related data are combined and analyzed over time, critical information is uncovered about overall trends, related intermittent spikes, and less common sharp inflectional shifts in aggression. These shifts impact social cohesion and grievously harm specific sub-groups when aggression escalates and is redirected or mainstreamed. These data, so critical to public policy formation, show that we are in such a historic inflection period now. Moreover, analysis of the latest, though partial Federal Bureau of Investigation hate crime data release, when overlaid with available data from excluded large jurisdictions, reveals hate crimes hit a record high in 2021 in the United States that previously went unreported. This Essay analyzes the most recent national data as well as various numerical and policy milestones that accompanied the historic, yet incomplete, implementation of hate crime data collection and related statutes over recent decades. This analysis of emerging trends in the United States is undertaken in the context of bigoted aggression broken down over time.

Ageism and moral distress in nurses caring for older patients

This study explored the influence of healthcare ageism on nurses' moral distress. Episodic interviews were conducted on 25 Romanian nurses in 2020. Thematic analysis revealed that all moral distress sources reported reflected macro-, meso- and micro-level ageism, benevolent and hostile, self- or other-directed, including stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination of older patients. The COVID-19 pandemic-related ageist measures increased healthcare ageism and transformed nurses' representations of older patients accordingly. Nurses felt moral conflict both when passively witnessing ageist acts and when perpetrating them to adhere to group norms, highlighting the need to combat ageism for both patients' and nurses' well-being.

Influence of Economic Scarcity on Race Perception.

Racial socioeconomic gaps are widened in periods of economic recession. Besides social and institutional factors, black people also struggle with many psychological factors. The literature reports racial-biased complex behaviors and high-level processes that are influenced by economic scarcity. A previous study found a bias at the perceptual level: an experimental manipulation of scarcity (a subliminal priming paradigm) lowered the black-white race categorization threshold. Here we present a conceptual replication in a higher ecological setup. In our main analysis we compared the categorization threshold of participants that received the Brazilian government's emergency economic aid in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 136) and participants that did not receive the economic aid (n = 135) in an online psychophysical task that presented faces in a black-white race continuum. Additionally, we analyzed the economic impact of COVID-19 on household income, and in cases of family unemployment. Our results do not support the claim that perception of race is influenced by economic scarcity. Interestingly, we found that when people differ greatly in terms of racial prejudice, they encode visual information related to race differently. People with higher scores on a prejudice scale needed more phenotypic traits of the black race to categorize a face as black. We discuss the results in terms of differences in method and sample.

International human rights law and the intangible face of ageism

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to show the potential of international human rights law to raise awareness of the international community about ageism and its three aspects – old age discrimination, stereotyping and prejudices against older persons. The author evaluates the ability of international human rights law to encourage states to take action against these phenomena and looks for new solutions. The author also intends to examine if there are international law instruments compelling states to reject stereotypes and prejudices on older persons if there is no treaty devoted to them.Design/methodology/approachThe author applies methods relevant to legal science. The core human rights treaties, soft law documents and activities of human rights bodies are selected, analysed and interpreted.FindingsThe core human rights treaties require going beyond their literal interpretation to observe older persons' rights. States should interpret them in good faith, relying on the ageing mainstreaming approach. Instruction to states on how to do so lies in the soft law and output of the international human rights bodies. However, there is also room for improvement. Therefore, the author proposes adopting a targeted resolution on counteracting ageism and its components, updating positions by international treaty bodies, and involving various human rights procedures and specialised agencies in the fight against intangible dimensions of ageism.Originality/valueIt is the first study analysing awareness about stereotyping and prejudices against older persons from international human rights law. The author indicates untapped possibilities of the fight against ageism and its intangible dimensions under international law.

Person and situation effects in predicting outgroup prejudice and avoidance during the COVID-19 pandemic

Recent theories of intergroup relations suggest that factors relevant to disease, disgust, and contagion predict prejudice towards ethnic outgroups. The current research explored the influence of contextual pathogen threat and individual differences in threat sensitivity on outgroup prejudice and avoidance in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected from a sample of British adults in June 2020 (N = 524). A multi-level approach was employed to capture differences in confirmed COVID-19 cases across different regions in the UK. Results demonstrated that even in a "strong" pandemic context, individual differences in both disgust sensitivity (DS) and intergroup disgust sensitivity (ITG-DS) explained variability in outgroup distancing. Subjective perceptions of contextual pathogen prevalence, but not actual infection rates, also predicted greater outgroup avoidance. However, a significant cross-level interaction revealed that DS predicted outgroup distancing in regions with higher numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases, but not in areas of lower infection. Thus, individual differences in pathogen avoidance may be especially influential under high situational pathogen stress. There was also some evidence that pathogen threat also predicted greater ingroup attraction. Results provide important insights into factors that promote or inhibit positive intergroup relations during pandemics. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Are you OK, Boomer? Intensification of ageism and intergenerational tensions on social media amid COVID-19

Social media is a useful tool for connecting with family, friends and others while physically distancing and self-isolating due to COVID-19. Simultaneously, it is being used for purposes of expressing antagonistic stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination against older adults. This commentary draws on social media trending topics (e.g., "OK, Boomer," "Boomer Remover") to demonstrate how generalizations regarding chronological age and COVID-19 age-related biomedical risks have: (a) exacerbated ageism on social media, and (b) further exposed ongoing tensions between so-called "Millennial" and "Baby Boomer" generations in ways that are targeted against the older generation and serve in favor of younger ones. The implications of this ageist discourse in and on society are discussed. Anti-ageism efforts by social media users and organizations are highlighted. In this state of emergency, we must bring awareness to and resist ageism that depersonalizes and dehumanizes older adults and undervalues later life during and following the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Social stigmatization in the news coverage of obesity in the Spanish press during the pandemic

Introducción: El presente estudio analiza el tratamiento de la obesidad en la prensa española durante el primer año de la pandemia de COVID-19, con el objetivo de conocer cómo se enmarcaron sus informaciones sobre este tema. Metodología: Mediante la metodología del análisis de contenido y con la teoría del framing como referencia, se estudiaron 350 unidades de contenido acerca de obesidad y COVID-19 publicadas en las ediciones digitales de los cuatro diarios españoles impresos de información general más leídos en el año 2020: El País, El Mundo, La Vanguardia y ABC. Resultados: En los contenidos que protagoniza la obesidad prima el encuadre de responsabilidad individual, que atribuye la causa de la obesidad a la persona que la padece y que difunde la idea de que tener sobrepeso es una elección personal. Por el contrario, en aquellos centrados en la COVID-19 predomina el encuadre de responsabilidad colectiva. También se utiliza, aunque de manera minoritaria, lenguaje ofensivo e imágenes que reflejan de forma negativa a personas con obesidad. Discusión: Los medios de comunicación pueden influir en las creencias y actitudes de su audiencia, así como en la toma de decisiones sobre salud. Por ello, la forma en que los medios representan la obesidad es importante para aumentar o reducir la estigmatización hacia las personas que la sufren. Conclusiones: La narrativa que atribuye la causa de la obesidad a la responsabilidad individual fomenta el aumento del estigma social y refuerza los estereotipos basados en el peso, por lo que debería evitarse en los medios de comunicación.Alternate abstract:Introducción: This study analyzes the treatment of obesity in the Spanish press during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, to find out how the information on this topic was framed. Methodology: Using the methodology of content analysis and the framing theory as a reference, 350 content units on obesity and COVID-19 published in the digital editions of the four most widely read Spanish generalinformation newspapers in 2020 were analyzed: El País, El Mundo, La Vanguardia, and ABC. Results: In the contents that focus on obesity the individual responsibility frame predominates, attributing the cause of obesity to individual responsibility and disseminating the idea that being overweight is a personal choice. On the other hand, in those centered on COVID-19, the collective responsibility frame predominates. Offensive language and images that reflect negatively on people with obesity are also used, albeit in a minority of cases. Discussion: The media can influence the beliefs and attitudes of its audience, as well as healthcare decision-making. Thus, how the media portrays obesity is important in increasing or reducing the stigmatization of people who suffer from it. Conclusions: The narrative attributing the cause of obesity to individual responsibility fosters increased social stigma and reinforces weight-based stereotypes and should be avoided in the media.

Cyber-bystanders' reactions toward tourism companies' prejudice practice during the COVID-19 pandemic

Prejudice against tourists from the epidemic areas or those infected during the COVID-19 pandemic has attracted much attention. While many studies examined the influence of this prejudice on tourists themselves, little research has been conducted to identify cyber-bystanders' reactions to tourism companies' prejudice practice. This study aims to fill this gap by revealing the process of how cyber-bystanders identify, evaluate, and respond online to prejudice practice in the context of the tourism industry. The study developed a conceptual model to examine the influential factors and their internal relationship of cyber-bystanders' reactions. A multistage model was proposed based on the social comparison theory. An online survey was conducted in mainland China, and 558 useable questionnaires were collected. The three-process model was estimated using the Bootstrap mediation test and hierarchical regression analysis. The results indicate that cyber-bystanders' prejudice recognizing process could impact their reactions through the influence of their evaluation behaviors. Meanwhile, the collective sentiment on social media has a moderating effect on the relationship between cyber-bystanders' evaluating process and their reactions to prejudice practice. Both theoretical and practical implications were discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

COVID-19 threat and negative attitudes toward outgroup and ingroup others: A multilevel analysis with coarsened exact matching

Using two waves of nationally representative data, the present study shows the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated anti-outgroup and anti-ingroup attitudes among South Korean adults. To that end, in a quasi-experimental setting, it exploits the survey interview timing as a source of exogenous variation to investigate the causal influence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data imbalance is initially corrected using the coarsened exact matching procedure. Then, a series of multilevel models, with data on 10,454 subjects nested in 34 wave–region units, are estimated with additional covariate adjustment to improve estimate precision. Results show that, first, those who are more relatively deprived became less inclined to support the granting of citizenship status to foreigners since the coronavirus outbreak. Second, the same trend was found among individuals who are more dissatisfied with the country's overall economic condition. Third, in the wake of the global health crisis, Korean natives became less willing to pay additional taxes to support conational others who are economically underprivileged. © The Author(s) 2023.

Crisis complicates peacebuilding in postconflict societies: COVID-19 support triggers negative outgroup emotions among individuals with low and high prejudice

Despite research on intergroup relations showing that prejudice influences the effect of intergroup help on outgroup empathy, less is known about the interplay of prejudice and intergroup help on outgroup emotions, trust, and perceptions in postconflict societies, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, we examined whether outgroup prejudice moderates the effect of outgroup help with fighting COVID-19 on intergroup affect and intergroup perception. In two studies (Ntotal = 811), participants with low prejudice exhibited more negative intergroup emotions and perceptions (i.e., perceived outgroup dominance) and less outgroup trust when the outgroup's country (i.e., a former opponent) had supported their country in fighting the pandemic than when it had supported another country or when support had been exchanged between other countries. In addition, participants with high prejudice exhibited more negative intergroup emotions and perceptions and less outgroup trust in all experimental conditions and perceived outgroup dominance explained the observed effects for participants with low prejudice. This article discusses what these results imply for theory and practice concerning postconflict intergroup relations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) Impact Statement This research clarifies how people in postconflict societies react to receiving help from former opponents. In two studies, individuals with low prejudice had less trust and more negative emotions and perceptions regarding the outgroup after receiving outgroup help than in two control conditions. In addition, individuals with high prejudice had those same emotions, perceptions, and levels of trust whether the outgroup had offered help or not, which indicates their largely fixed negative views on the outgroup. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Clinicians' Reflections of the Therapeutic Relationship in Videoconferencing: A Qualitative Study

Introduction: In recent years the use of distance psychotherapy has been gaining in popularity (Hollis et al., 2015), especially due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has forced many clinicians to use online interventions to comply with social distancing rules, enabling them to experience the resources and the limitations of online tools and consultations (Van Daele et al., 2020). Among the different ways of providing online psychotherapy, videoconferencing psychotherapy has many advantages (e.g., reaching people who have conditions that hinder the carrying out of a face-to-face treatment, the possibility of improving the integration network between the different territorial services, facilitating access to them) and its effectiveness was demonstrated in the literature (Thomas et a., 2021;Backhaus et al., 2012). Despite these advantages, for clinicians, one of the biggest concerns about videoconferencing psychotherapy is its potential negative influence on the therapeutic relationship with clients in terms of strategies, quality and emotion detection by the online communication modality, especially because of the lack or reduction of conventional, non-verbal signs and clues typical of a traditional clinical setting (Cipolletta & Mocellin, 2018). Many clinicians report feeling insecure about their ability to communicate their empathy and build a therapeutic alliance online as well as to feel more tired, less competent and confident, less authentic or genuine, and less connected with clients during online video sessions (Bekes & Aafjes-van Doorn, 2020). Moreover, recent studies seem to suggest that different relational aspects may intervene in the video-mediated relationship than in the presence, such as the necessity of an extensive use of ostensive cues (Fisher et al., 2020), a greater disinhibition and openness in videoconferencing or an increased flexibility;these elements could have a different role in online than face-to-face interventions (Simpson et al., 2020;Cipolletta et al., 2017). According to these considerations, the aim of this work is to further explore which are the peculiar aspects involved in the video-mediated clinical relationship and its differences from face-to-face interventions. Method(s): We involved in the study 32 psychotherapists (85.2% female;Mage=35.07) affiliated to an Italian agency that provides online psychotherapy, which were divided into three groups based on their levels of clinical experience. Each group attended an online 2-session focus group conducted by two psychotherapists who administered an ad hoc semi-structured interview to the participants based on the core issues of this study and the evidence presented in the literature about the characteristics of video-mediated relationship. In the focus groups the experiences of the therapists were investigated through 4 areas: (1) therapeutic relationship;(2) personal and professional background;(3) non-verbal communication and (4) management of therapeutic boundaries. All sessions were video-recorded and transcribed. Transcripts were coded using the inductive thematic analysis method (Braun & Clarke, 2012) by three coders supervised at regular intervals by two experts. Each of the coder independently coded the transcripts and each discrepancy was discussed in group until obtaining agreement among coders. Result(s): Preliminary results show that clinicians refer how the relationship in videoconferencing has distinctive characteristics that differed from face-to-face setting. These characteristics are related to four main areas, which emerged from the analysis: (1) emotional and relational aspects of psychotherapy;(2) motivation and beliefs;(3) corporeity and movement and (4) management of therapeutic boundaries. Regarding emotional and relational as- pects, clinicians reported the presence of some elements that differ from face-to-face therapy, such as the establishing of the therapeutic alliance, the level of intimacy and safety of the therapeutic relationship and the drop-out rates. About the second area, principal themes pointed out by clinicians regarding the presence of differences in levels of motivation and urgency in the request of psychological intervention expressed by patients who choose online psychotherapy;furthermore, both clinicians and patients (as referred by their therapist) initially have some prejudices about the effectiveness of videoconferencing psychotherapy. There is a general agreement among therapists about the lack of non-verbal signals and corporeity in videoconferencing that forced clinicians to focus on facial movements, eye contact and tone of voice;furthermore, also the use of silence is different in online psychotherapy. Lastly, concerning the management of therapeutic boundaries, therapists affirmed that technical problems (internet connection, device use.), the possibility of maintaining privacy, the increased responsibility of the patient in the setting construction and the consequent need to educate the patient on how to be in therapy are the principal characteristics of the videoconferencing therapy. Further and more detailed results will be presented. Conclusion(s): The preliminary results of this study suggest that in the therapist's perception the therapeutic relationship in videoconferencing has peculiar characteristics and is different from the face-to-face context, but there is no agreement on what. Perception is highly variable from therapist to therapist and the critical aspects identified vary from prejudice to technical problems, from the setting to the quality of the relationship.