• Question: Due to things like the corona virus, antisocial behavior towards Asian people has dramatically increased. Why do you think people have dramatically turned on them? What can communities do to deescalate situations?

    Asked by anon-237297 to Peter, Mhairi, Madeleine, Catherine, Andrew on 14 Mar 2020.
    • Photo: Mhairi Bowe

      Mhairi Bowe answered on 14 Mar 2020:

      Social psychological studies have shown that people tend to become more fearful and threatened in stressful situations and that can have negative consequences, and sadly one of those is discrimination and prejudiced attitudes. This is not inevitable though so we must increase awareness and address these behaviours consistently.

    • Photo: Catherine Talbot

      Catherine Talbot answered on 17 Mar 2020:

      Yes, sadly we have seen lots of reports of racism. We know from social psychology work on stereotypes that people can associate a behaviour from one person with an entire group of people based on their characteristics. This is what we are seeing here! Communities need to be more aware of this issue, and we need to remember to be kind and help one another through this tricky time.

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