Perceived China Threat, Conspiracy Belief, and Public Support for Restrictive Immigration Control During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an unprecedented increase in the level of political blame attributed to China for the health crisis and other associated xenophobic discourses. Although previous research has revealed the effects of perceived outgroup threats on popular support for policies that control outgroups, threats posed by foreign countries have received little empirical attention. This study advances previous research by focusing on the independent effects of the perceived China threat to public support for restrictive immigration control during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a sample drawn from the 2020 American National Election Studies, the results showed that the perceived China threat substantially heightened public support for restrictive immigration control. More importantly, demand for restrictive immigration control intensified when individuals had stronger perceptions of threats and conspiracy beliefs about the virus leak from a Chinese lab. Taken together, our findings demonstrate the roles of politically constructed threats and conspiracy beliefs during the COVID-19 pandemic, revealing new mechanisms of popular attitudes toward social control.