The role of the COVID-19 impersonal threat strengthening the associations of right-wing attitudes, nationalism and anti-immigrant sentiments.
Curr Psychol
; : 1-12, 2023 Feb 02.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36747914
ABSTRACT
Literature showed that the link between right-wing attitudes and ethnocentric attitudes gets stronger under existential threats, but the role exerted by an impersonal threat - as COVID-19 - on right-wing attitudes is still unclear. This study aimed to highlight the role of anxiety exerted by the impersonal COVID-19 threat on the relationship between right-wing attitudes and ethnocentric attitudes, as nationalism and anti-immigrants' sentiments. As part of an international project to evaluate the impact of COVID-19, this study administered an online survey to a representative sample (n 1038). The anxiety generated by an impersonal threat as COVID-19 - thus not exerted by any outgroup - can moderate the relationship among personal Right-Wing Authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and ethnocentric attitudes. This is the first study demonstrating that existential threat is effective also when exerted by an impersonal agent (as COVID-19) rather than by an outgroup. Second, these findings disclose useful implications for preventive psychological interventions and for social policy makers. Supplementary information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-023-04305-w.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Risk_factors_studies
Language:
En
Journal:
Curr Psychol
Year:
2023
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Italia