Knowing about racial disparities in Covid outcomes reduces White Americans ’ concern and support for safety precautions

This study again showed that having more knowledge about racial disparities led to less concern about Covid. However, this effect seemed to be strongest for the group presented with information about the role of systemic issues in producing these disparities. Reduced concern in this group in turn led them to show less support for safety precautions. In essence, it seems as though the more the participants knew, the less they cared. The authors speculate that explaining how Covid racial disparities are a product of enduring health inequalities affecting non-White communities may have made White participants feel that they were unlikely to be similarly affected. This psychological distance may be part of the problem. In their paper, the team draws lines between several psychological factors that may also contribute to this surprising outcome. Firstly, when faced with a threatening health situation, people are likely to contrast their own situation with that of people more at risk as a method of coping, drawing distance between the two for comfort. Perceiving a group and their situation as psychologically distant from one’s own (i.e. an out-group rather than an in-group) can make threats facing other groups also seem distant from oneself, and therefore less of a threat. The combination of these factors is likely to leave White people with reduced empathy for members of those at-risk racial minorities, while also reducing engagement with public health precautions. Futu...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Coronavirus Social Source Type: blogs