Disgust proneness influences the effects of political orientation on xenophobia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

Although political conservatism has been associated with xenophobia, the processes that may explain this link during the COVID-19 pandemic are unclear. Xenophobia does increase during infectious disease outbreaks, suggesting an adaptation for those concerned about disease threats. Given that disgust facilitates disease avoidance, the present study examined the extent to which disgust proneness (DP) moderated the association between political conservatism and xenophobia during the pandemic. Community participants (n = 277) reporting their political orientation and levels of DP on May 27, 2020 completed measures of COVID-19 xenophobia and COVID-19 anxiety every 2 weeks for a total of 15 timepoints over 30 weeks. Multilevel models revealed that xenophobia was elevated among those high in DP but decreased throughout the pandemic. Xenophobia was also elevated among conservatives but also decreased during the pandemic. Consistent with predictions, DP moderated the effect of political orientation on xenophobia such that at high (but not low) levels of DP, the link between political orientation and xenophobia was significant, with higher levels of conservativism predicting higher xenophobia even when controlling for COVID-19 anxiety. The implications of the present findings for conceptualizing the various processes that explain how political attitudes may fuel xenophobia during future pandemics are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).