BAUMUS Board member Dr. Arzu Karakulak's research project "The Pandemic-Prejudice Link: Understanding How and When the COVID-19 Threat Causes Bias Against Refugees" was awarded the 2021/2022 Mercator-IPC Research Fellowship.
With its high death rate, severe restrictions and heavy economic losses, the COVID-19 pandemic has aroused perceptions of great threats that foster violence, ethnocentrism, extremism and prejudice against minority group members. Yet responses to the threat of COVID-19 have been very diverse. Not every individual and not every society has a biased attitude towards minority group members, and this research project addresses this issue. By combining leading social-psychological (such as Social Identity Theory and Integrated Threat Theory) and evolutionary approaches (such as the Pathogen Avoidance Model), the research aims to improve the well-being of young adults while understanding the psychological and socio-cultural conditions that help reduce prejudice against refugees. . The knowledge gained from this project will not only be relevant to the challenges faced in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, but will also equip scientists and policy makers with strategies to better manage future global upheavals, for example related to the effects of climate change on globalizing economies and the dynamics of famine.
The related project was funded under the Project Stiftung Mercator (Germany) - Istanbul Policy Center (Sabancı University) initiative and aims to contribute to the development of international good practices in the areas of Sustainable Development Goals Health and Quality of Life (SDG3), Reducing Inequalities (SDG10), and Partnerships for Goals (SDG17).
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