COVID-19: A mere “mask” for ethnicity based stigma? A qualitative investigation into the experience of coronavirus stigma among East and South East Asians living in the Netherlands

Abstract

The global outbreak of coronavirus from Wuhan, China in late 2019 has been a public health catastrophe on multiple levels. Aside from the biomedical impact and direct loss of life associated with the disease, the pandemic has led to widespread anti-Asian stigma in many western countries, including the Netherlands. Stigma of different types has been studied extensively throughout psychological and social science literature, but an academic understanding of this type of COVID-19 stigma is largely lacking. Accordingly, this study sought to examine the experience of people of East and South East Asian (ESEA) heritage by asking: among the target population, (how) is COVID-19 stigma experienced, interpreted and negotiated? Berjot & Gillet’s (2011) model of Appraising and Coping with Identity Relevant Situations frames this investigation and as such, the study also presents an opportunity to test the model’s contemporary applicability. To answer this question, qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted among people with an ESEA background who lived in the Netherlands. Findings paint a varied picture of experiences among participants and illustrates that interpretation of stigma differs strongly. Key insights include the fact that some participants located the blame for their own stigmatization within themselves and their communities, while others located the blame among the perpetrators. A particularly notable finding was that the face mask (worn to prevent spreading respiratory infection) significantly exacerbated participants existing experience of stigmatization in the early phase of the pandemic. Regarding the model, the antecedents phase provided a solid basis for examining participants prior experience of stigma, but the latter phases proved less helpful in understanding participants appraisal and coping methods. Overall, the present study offers unique insight into the experiences of a sample of ESEA individuals at the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands from which multiple avenues for future research are suggested