2019-20 coronavirus outbreak

Demography

Ecology

Neuroscience

Biology

Moderation

Social psychology

Virology

Scholarship

Psychiatry

Developmental psychology

Anxiety

Biology and political orientation

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)

Outbreak

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Competition (biology)

Psychology

Politics

Political science

Moderated mediation

Population

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Sociology

Medicine

Social distance

Perception

Disease

Pathology

The Journal of Social Psychology

This research examined the effects of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic on perceived Black-White intergroup competition and negative intergroup psychological outcomes. Two datasets (collected before [2018] and after the onset of [April, 2020] COVID-19) were combined (N = 2,131) for this research. The data provided support for the hypothesis that perceptions of Black-White intergroup competition, and subsequently perceptions of discrimination, behavioral avoidance, intergroup anxiety, and interracial mistrust would be higher after the onset of COVID-19. Three additional predictors, a perceived interracial competition manipulation, political orientation, and population density at the ZIP-code level were examined to test for main effects and moderation of COVID-19 effects. All three predictors exhibited main effects on focal outcomes, and political orientation moderated COVID-19 onset effects: effects were stronger for conservatives. Lastly, perceived intergroup competition mediated the effect of COVID-19 onset on the four focal outcomes.

The effects of COVID-19 on perceived intergroup competition and negative intergroup outcomes