Asian American Journal of Psychology, Vol 13(4), Dec 2022, 318-327; doi:10.1037/aap0000295
The United States (U.S.) has a long history of racism and xenophobia, especially around infectious outbreaks. Recently, the associations of COVID-19 to China and Chinese people have been reflected in a surge of anti-Asian sentiment and hate crimes. Therefore, the present study examines the perceived change in everyday racism among Asians in the U.S. during the COVID-19 outbreak. This study used self-report surveys to assess the perceptions of everyday racism before and during the pandemic among Asians, Latinxs, and Whites residing in the U.S. We tested a 3 (race [Asians vs. Latinxs vs. Whites]) × 2 (perceptions [before vs. during pandemic]) analysis of covariance with repeated measures for perceptions to determine whether there were differences between racial groups for everyday racism before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings strongly indicate that Asians in the U.S. perceived a change in everyday racism during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to Latinxs and Whites. Exploratory findings show that East and Southeast Asians, in particular, experienced the steepest perceived increase in everyday racism. Anti-Asian sentiment seems to have intensified in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic, as evident in the rise of everyday racism against Asians. These experiences may serve as additional stressors for Asians in the U.S. during these already distressing times and disproportionately impact East and Southeast Asians. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)