Looking Hateworthy: An Investigation of the Relationship Between Chinese Phenotypicality and COVID-19-Related Prejudice and Discrimination

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been an increasing number of hate crimes perpetrated against Chinese and non-Chinese Asian Americans. Some hate incidents suggest that Chinese Asian Americans have been mainly targeted followed by non-Chinese Asian Americans. The present study examined the influence of victim Chinese phenotypicality (CP) and participant individual differences on COVID-19-related prejudice and discrimination. Participants were presented with a mock news story detailing a restaurant employee (varying in CP) who tested positive for COVID-19 but went to work despite warnings to quarantine and allegedly spread COVID-19 to other employees and customers. CP was manipulated through photographs embedded within the mock news story of the employee (White (control) vs. Low CP vs. High CP). After reading the news story, participants completed measures of prejudice and discrimination endorsement along with measures of individual differences. Results revealed that CP influenced prejudice and support for discrimination, but only for individuals with certain characteristics (e.g., low income). The findings highlight individual difference characteristics among perpetrators of prejudice and discrimination against Asian Americans, in addition to phenotypic variations among those who may be victims of hate related to the COVID-19 pandemic.