Belonging and blame: cultural and moral correlates of anti-Asian scapegoating for the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract Violence and discrimination targeting Asian Americans increased substantially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and perpetrators have frequently used scapegoating language (e.g., “China virus”) or otherwise expressed blame for the pandemic as motivation. However, little empirical research has explored these pandemic scapegoating beliefs—or the preexisting beliefs, values, and narratives that support them—which is likely an important step toward understanding and addressing anti-Asian hate. This study began with an exploratory factor analysis of representative, original US survey data (N = 1941) to construct a novel measure of pandemic scapegoating beliefs. Next, drawing on theories of group threat, nationalism, and morality, multivariable regression analyses examined how (1) Christian nationalism and (2) moral foundations were linked to these pandemic scapegoating beliefs and associated language, above and beyond sociodemographic, religious, and political controls. Among non-Asian Americans, endorsement of Christian nationalism tended to be associated with heightened scapegoating, but with some differences across race and ethnicity. Individualizing moral foundations (i.e., care and fairness concerns) were associated with lower scapegoating, while binding moral foundations (i.e., loyalty, authority, and sanctity concerns) were associated with heightened scapegoating. Notably, these measures largely explained differences in scapegoating beliefs and language across political affiliations, highlighting the importance of moral culture to how outgroup scapegoating narratives become politically polarized and resonant. Implications for scholarship on contemporary anti-Asian hate and other instances outgroup scapegoating are discussed.