Effects of COVID-19 related economic threat on political conservatism, xenophobia, and racial bias in the United States

by Crystal X. Wang, Stanley J. Huey Jr., Miriam P. Rubenson

The uncertainty-threat model of conservatism posits that people turn to political conservatism to protect themselves from perceived threats; indeed, studies show increases in conservative ideology and outgroup bias following threat priming. The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented threat that has had devastating effects on the health and economic lives of Americans. Concerns surrounding the threat of COVID-19 may have secondary effects on other aspects of American life, such as political and anti-Asian racial bias. The current studies explored the effects of COVID-19 related threats on expressed political conservatism, xenophobia, and racial bias under the uncertainty-threat model. Study 1 assessed the effects of priming health or economic risks of COVID-19 (vs. control), and found that economic threat led to increased xenophobia, but had no effects on overall conservatism. Study 2 then investigated whether the effects of COVID-related economic threat prime extended to racial bias, and explored moderators and mediators of effects. Results showed that the economic threat prime increased perceived group-status threat, and indirectly increased conservatism, xenophobia, and racial bias through the mechanism of perceived group-status threat. Effects were greatest for those impacted financially by the pandemic. In general, our studies provide support for the uncertainty-threat model with the novel threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. Implications for understanding potential shifts in conservatism and bias in response to future threats in the United States are discussed.