The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on xenophobia in South Africa is little understood. The Behavioural Immune System (BIS) theory would predict that hostility towards immigrants increases during periods of heightened pathogen stress. This BIS‐hypothesis is tested against the relative strength of three other possible drivers of anti‐immigrant sentiment. These included anger at the national lockdown system, intertemporal relative deprivation, and racial transformation ideology. For these tests nationally representative data (N = 2996), gathered during the height of the ‘Omicron’ wave, were used. Multivariate analysis showed that COVID‐19 exposure was not associated with more negative sentiments towards immigrants. Fear‐based reactions to the Coronavirus were, in fact, correlated with pro‐immigrant attitudes. Intertemporal relative deprivation and transformation orientations were much better predictors of anti‐immigrant sentiment than pathogen stress. These findings raised questions about the applicability of the BIS‐hypothesis in the context of the Coronavirus and suggest new avenues of academic inquiry.

中文翻译：

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南非的“冠状病毒危机”和仇外心理：这一流行病如何影响反移民情绪？


人们对 COVID-19 大流行对南非仇外心理的影响知之甚少。行为免疫系统（BIS）理论预测，在病原体应激加剧期间，对移民的敌意会增加。这一国际清算银行的假设是针对反移民情绪的其他三个可能驱动因素的相对强度进行检验的。其中包括对国家封锁制度、跨期相对剥夺和种族转型意识形态的愤怒。对于这些测试，使用了在“Omicron”浪潮高峰期间收集的全国代表性数据（N = 2996）。多变量分析表明，接触 COVID-19 与对移民的负面情绪增加无关。事实上，对冠状病毒的恐惧反应与亲移民态度相关。跨期相对剥夺和转型取向比病原体应激更能预测反移民情绪。这些发现对 BIS 假设在冠状病毒背景下的适用性提出了质疑，并提出了学术探究的新途径。