Social media intergroup expression and White Americans’ attitudes toward ethnic Chinese during COVID-19

ABSTRACT

Guided by intergroup contact theory, this survey study investigates how White American adults’ (N = 697, Mage = 44.42, SD = 14.6, age range = 18–67) social media intergroup expression frequency and valence, direct contact quality, and perceptions of institutional bias were associated with behavioral and affective attitudes toward ethnic Chinese during COVID-19. Structural Equation Modeling analyses indicate that social media intergroup expression valence and direct contact quality play a critical role in improving intergroup attitudes toward ethnic Chinese directly, and indirectly through building empathy and/or reducing anxiety. In addition, analyses demonstrate the negative role of social media intergroup expression frequency, which had: (1) a direct negative effect on behavioral attitudes and (2) an indirect negative effect on both attitudinal measures through increased anxiety and decreased empathy. Lastly, perceptions of institutional bias were negatively associated with affective attitudes through increased intergroup anxiety. Overall, findings reveal the dynamic interplay of the intergroup processes between social media intergroup expression, intergroup contact, and perceptions of institutional bias in shaping intergroup anxiety, empathy, and attitudes during COVID-19.

KEYWORDS:

• Institutional bias; social media intergroup expression, COVID-19; intergroup anxiety, intergroup empathy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Acknowledgement

We give our sincere thanks to Editor Peng Hwa ANG and the four anonymous reviewers for their support and constructive feedback. We sincerely appreciate Mary Lee Hummert and Alcides Valasquez for their support for this research.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This study (MOD0028965) was approved by the Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) at the University of Kansas and is valid till 2025.

Notes on contributors

Yan Bing Zhang

Dr. Yan Bing Zhang is a Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas. Dr. Zhang is an intergroup and intercultural communication scholar. She studies the ways in which cognitive schemas, societal norms and cultural values, and institutional and media representations of groups relate to communication, relationship, and identity processes. She also examines the influence that direct and mediated intergroup contact has on interpersonal relationships and the reduction of intergroup prejudice and biases.

Molly Han

Molly Han is a doctoral candiate in the Communication Studies Department at the University of Kansas. Her research interests focus on intergroup/intercultural communication, communication and aging, and communication in nonprofit organizations. She is interested in how communicative messages contribute to enhancing age efficacy, improving intergenerational relation, and promoting prosocial behavior.

Teri Terigele

Teri Terigele received her Ph.D.degree in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas with a specialization in intergroup and intercultural communication in 2023. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of the South. She is interested in studying mediated and personal contact in intercultural contexts especially between the U.S. and East Asian cultures.

Anna Jewell

Anna Jewell is a doctoral student in the Communication Studies Department at the University of Kansas. Her research engages intercultural communication through rhetorical and qualitative methods. She is interested in the intersection of racial identity and familial identity within transracial adoption, and public discourse about East Asian cultures.

Ning Liu

Dr. Ning Liu received her doctoral degree in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas in 2020. She is a research analyst at UC, Davis. Her major research interests include intercultural and intergroup communication, impression formation, and computer-mediated interaction. Currently, she is working on her master's degree in data analytics at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Gaby Byrd

Dr. Gaby Byrd is an Assistant Professor at Purdue University. Her research focuses primarily on social identity, communication, and relationships. She has specific interests in the ways in which positive and effective communication with specific outgroup members can reduce group-level stereotyping.