Racial framing of pandemic outcomes has conditional indirect effects on support for COVID‐19 mitigation policies: Examining moral and threat‐based mediating mechanisms

• Published in: Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy 2022-04, Vol.22 (1), p.130-149
• Main Authors: Franks, Andrew, Xiao, Y. Jenny, Hesami, Farhang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bias; COVID-19; Mental health; Minority groups; Pandemics; Poverty; Public health; Public opinion; Racial inequality; Racial justice; Racism; Safety; Social justice; Social programs; Threats
• ISSN: 1529-7489; 1530-2415
• DOI: 10.1111/asap.12295

Two studies explored the intersection between the COVID‐19 pandemic and the continuing fight for racial justice. The pandemic has exacerbated existing racial inequalities in the United States in terms of public health and economic outcomes, and it is well‐established that individuals higher in racial bias are less likely to support social safety net programs such as those meant to improve public health and reduce poverty. This is particularly true among individuals who perceive racial minorities as overbenefitting from safety net programs. Accordingly, the primary focus of the current studies was to examine whether framing the pandemic in terms of its disproportionate impact on minorities would reduce support for pandemic mitigation policies. In addition, we examine whether such effects were mediated through psychological mechanisms of moral outrage and perceptions of realistic and symbolic threat, and moderated by participants’ racial bias. Participants’ belief in a just world was included as a covariate given its established role in predicting many related social outcomes. Results suggested that racial framing interacts with participants’ racial bias to affect policy support indirectly through multiple mechanisms. Broad implications regarding the relationship between racial bias and public support for a strong social safety net are discussed.