Fear of Infection or Justification of Social Exclusion? The Symbolic Exploitation of the Ebola Epidemic
Publikation: Beiträge in Zeitschriften › Zeitschriftenaufsätze › Forschung › begutachtet
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in: Political Psychology, Jahrgang 38, Nr. 3, 06.2017, S. 499-513.
Publikation: Beiträge in Zeitschriften › Zeitschriftenaufsätze › Forschung › begutachtet
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Fear of Infection or Justification of Social Exclusion? The Symbolic Exploitation of the Ebola Epidemic
AU - Stürmer, Stefan
AU - Rohmann, Anette
AU - Mazziotta, Agostino
AU - Siem, Birte
AU - Barbarino, Maria Luisa
PY - 2017/6
Y1 - 2017/6
N2 - Public discourse in Western countries on the 2014 Ebola epidemic provided a unique natural opportunity to study the relationship between a disease's sociocultural representation and health policy support. Our main prediction stated that among Western citizens, support for restrictive health policies (e.g., mandatory quarantining) would be determined more through preexisting prejudice towards African immigrants than fears of Ebola infection. A questionnaire study with time-lagged measurement of predictor and criterion variables employing a German sample (N = 218) that was heterogeneous in terms of gender, age, profession, political orientation, and income level provided clear support for this assumption. Although variables related to fear-of-infection were significant predictors, prejudice-related variables explained several times more variance in participants’ support for restrictive policies. Moreover, the degree to which participants adopted prevalent beliefs regarding the sociocultural origins of Ebola (e.g., eating bushmeat) further intensified the impact of prejudice-related variables.
AB - Public discourse in Western countries on the 2014 Ebola epidemic provided a unique natural opportunity to study the relationship between a disease's sociocultural representation and health policy support. Our main prediction stated that among Western citizens, support for restrictive health policies (e.g., mandatory quarantining) would be determined more through preexisting prejudice towards African immigrants than fears of Ebola infection. A questionnaire study with time-lagged measurement of predictor and criterion variables employing a German sample (N = 218) that was heterogeneous in terms of gender, age, profession, political orientation, and income level provided clear support for this assumption. Although variables related to fear-of-infection were significant predictors, prejudice-related variables explained several times more variance in participants’ support for restrictive policies. Moreover, the degree to which participants adopted prevalent beliefs regarding the sociocultural origins of Ebola (e.g., eating bushmeat) further intensified the impact of prejudice-related variables.
KW - Ebola
KW - health policies support
KW - social representation
KW - symbolic prejudice
KW - Social Work and Social Pedagogics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84978208323&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/pops.12354
DO - 10.1111/pops.12354
M3 - Journal articles
AN - SCOPUS:84978208323
VL - 38
SP - 499
EP - 513
JO - Political Psychology
JF - Political Psychology
SN - 0162-895X
IS - 3
ER -