The impact of COVID-19 blame on Asian Americans' sense of belonging

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a disturbing increase in the discrimination directed toward Asian Americans within the United States. Reports of physical attacks, verbal harassment, vandalism, and other horrific hate crimes have been recorded across the country. Unfortunately, many Americans place blame for the COVID-19 pandemic onto Asian Americans and Asians more broadly. This has been referred to as attributional scapegoating in which groups attribute blame for society’s ills onto a particular group - which increases perceptions of the acceptability of discrimination toward that group. Previous research has shown the various detrimental effects that such discrimination can have especially on minority groups. Effects include decreased self-esteem, higher levels of anxiety and depression, and lower sense of belonging. The aim of the current study is to extend research related to the COVID-19 pandemic and Asian Americans’ sense of belonging. More specifically, this study seeks to expand a finding that greater perceived increases in discrimination during the pandemic predicted lower sense of belonging for Asian Americans. The current research project will examine whether perceived blame for the virus will influence Asian Americans’ sense of belonging. We will present participants with fabricated statistics (e.g. 80% vs 20%) about how much White Americans blame Asians and Asian Americans for the virus. We predict that participants who are presented with a high level of blame (80%) that Asians and Asian Americans are responsible for the virus (compared to a low level of blame; 20%) will report greater perceptions of prejudice/discrimination, greater discomfort when interacting with White Americans, greater fear, lower self-esteem/self-worth, and lower sense of belonging. This research will help us better understand the implications of discrimination and blame on Asian Americans especially in the context of a pandemic and the factors involved in the increased expression of prejudice toward a racial minority group in a time of crisis. This research is important in understanding how attributional scapegoating (blaming society’s ills on a particular group) affects intergroup dynamics and group well-being.