2 research outputs found
Tell me what you are like and I will tell you what you believe in: Social representations of COVID-19 in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
This study analyzes the range and content of Social Representations (SRs) about the
COVID-19 pandemic in 21 geographical zones from 17 countries in the Americas, Europe
and Asia (N = 4430). Based on Social Representations Theory, as well as the psychosocial
consequences of pandemics and crises, we evaluate the perceptions of severity and risks,
the agreement with different SRs, and participants’ Social Dominance Orientation (SDO)
and Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA). Different sets of beliefs are discussed as SRs,
together with their prevalence and association with contextual variables. Results show that
severity and risk perceptions were associated with different SRs of the pandemic.
Specifically, those focused on Emerging Externalizing zoonotic and ecological factors (the
virus is due to Chinese unhygienic habits and the overexploitation of the planet), Polemic
Conspiracies (the virus is a weapon), views of Elite and Mass Villains (the elites deceive
us and profit with the pandemic), and Personal Responsibility (the neglectful deserves
contagion) during the pandemic. Furthermore, most of the SRs are anchored in SDO and,
more strongly, in RWA orientations. Additional meta-analyses and multi-level regressions
show that the effects are replicated in most geographical areas and that risk perception was
a consistent explanatory variable, even after controlling for demographics and ‘real risk’ (i.e., actual numbers of contagion and death). Results suggest that, while coping with and
making sense of the pandemic, authoritarian subjects agree with SR that feed a sense of
social control and legitimize outgroup derogation, and support punishment of ingroup lowstatus deviants.University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Spain
Social class, well-being, and general affectivity during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ibero-America
La actual pandemia de la COVID-19 ha supuesto un marcado incremento de las brechas sociales preexistentes. En esta investigación analizamos las relaciones de diferentes facetas de clase social con el bienestar y afectividad general a lo largo de un total de 8 paÃses de la región cultural iberoamericana. Asimismo, también pusimos a prueba el potencial rol mediador del riesgo percibido relativo a la COVID-19 y de la eficacia colectiva percibida. Los resultados obtenidos (a) revelaron que una clase social más baja se relacionó con un menor bienestar y afecto positivo, asà como con un mayor afecto negativo; (b) confirmaron que la clase social subjetiva constituye un mejor predictor del bienestar y afectividad general que el nivel educativo (i.e., indicador de clase social objetiva); y (c) mostraron que los efectos de la clase social subjetiva en el bienestar/afectividad general se daban de forma indirecta a través del riesgo percibido y la eficacia colectiva. Estos hallazgos confirman la existencia de diferencias en bienestar y afectividad general en función de la clase social durante la pandemia, al tiempo que permiten avanzar en la com-prensión de los mecanismos psicosociales subyacentes.Esta investigación ha sido posible gracias a los Gobiernos de España (PID2020-115738GB-I0; PSI2017- 84145-P; PSI2017-83966-R) y PaÃs Vasco (IT1187-19; PRE_2017_1_0405), la Universidad del PaÃs Vasco (DOCREC20/23), CONICYT (72180394) y la Universidad Viña del Mar (FIIUVM-EN-1904)