BAUMUS executive board member Dr. Arzu Karakulak's research project “The Pandemic-Prejudice Link: Understanding How and When the Threat of COVID-19 Leads to Prejudice Against Refugees” has been awarded the 2021/2022 Mercator-IPC Research Fellowship. Congratulations!
Dr. Arzu Karakulak quoted the project as follows:
With its high mortality rate, severe restrictions, and heavy economic losses, the COVID-19 pandemic has evoked major threat perceptions that have nurtured violence, ethnocentrism, extremism, and prejudice against minority group members. Yet, reactions to the threat of COVID-19 have been manifold. Not every individual and not every society have reacted with heightened prejudice against minority group members. My research project tackles this issue. By combining prominent social-psychological (i.e., Social Identity Theory and Integrated Threat Theory) and evolutionary approaches (i.e., Pathogen Avoidance Model), my research aims to understand the psychological and socio-cultural conditions that help to reduce prejudice against refugees while simultaneously promoting the well-being of young adults. The knowledge gained from this project will not only be relevant for the challenges we face in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic but will also equip scientists and policy-makers with strategies to better manage future global upheavals, for instance, in relation to the effects of climate change on our globalized economies and the dynamics of scarcity.
TR
