2023/09/29
Osaka University
Keio University
Hiroshima Shudo University
A research group including Project Professor Michio Murakami (full-time) and Professor Asako Miura (Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University, and concurrently at the Center for Infectious Disease Education and Research [CiDER]) from the Center for Infectious Disease Education and Research, Osaka University; Professor Kai Hiraishi (Faculty of Letters, Keio University); Assistant Professor Mei Yamagata (Faculty of Culture and Information Science, Doshisha University, and concurrently a Collaborative Researcher at CiDER); and Professor Daisuke Nakanishi (Faculty of Health Sciences, Hiroshima Shudo University) conducted an international comparison of attitudes toward "blaming the victim for infection" and "government-imposed behavioral restrictions" over the three years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Surveys conducted in the early stages of the pandemic (spring and summer 2020) had shown that victim-blaming attitudes were stronger in Japan than in other countries. However, the longitudinal changes in these attitudes and their relationship with attitudes toward behavioral restrictions had not been studied in detail. Therefore, the research group led by Project Professor Michio Murakami (full-time) and Professor Asako Miura added data from questionnaire surveys conducted in the spring of 2021 and 2022 in Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, and China to examine the longitudinal changes in victim-blaming attitudes and attitudes toward behavioral restrictions after the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as the relationship between the two in each country.
The results showed a tendency for victim-blaming attitudes to be high in Japan and low in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, in the four countries excluding China, victim-blaming attitudes increased from 2020 to 2021. Attitudes toward behavioral restrictions were high in China and low in Japan. Attitudes toward behavioral restrictions decreased in Japan from 2020 to 2021, and in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Italy from 2020 to 2022.
An analysis of the causal relationship between these two attitudes in Japan and Italy, where a positive correlation was observed, revealed a common finding: while attitudes toward behavioral restrictions gradually weakened among those with low victim-blaming attitudes, victim-blaming attitudes strengthened among those with strong attitudes toward behavioral restrictions.
This suggests that in Japan, to reduce discrimination and prejudice during an infectious disease outbreak, it is crucial to conduct public education campaigns in the early stages of the outbreak, specifically targeting people with strong attitudes toward behavioral restrictions, to convey the message that "infection is not the fault of the infected individual."
The results of this research were published in the British-American scientific journal "PeerJ" at 8:00 PM (JST) on Thursday, September 28, 2023.
Key Research Findings
Surveys in 2020 had shown that the degree to which people in Japan considered novel coronavirus (hereinafter "COVID-19") infection to be "one's own fault" (victim-blaming attitudes) was higher than in other countries.
This study analyzed the longitudinal changes from 2020 to 2022 in victim-blaming attitudes and the degree of approval for "government-imposed behavioral restrictions" (attitudes toward behavioral restrictions) in Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, and China.
Victim-blaming attitudes were high in Japan and low in the United Kingdom. In the four countries excluding China, victim-blaming attitudes increased from 2020 to 2021.
Attitudes toward behavioral restrictions were high in China and low in Japan. These attitudes decreased in Japan from 2020 to 2021, and in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Italy from 2020 to 2022.
In Japan and Italy, there was a tendency for people with stronger attitudes toward behavioral restrictions to also have higher victim-blaming attitudes.
In Japan and Italy, while attitudes toward behavioral restrictions weakened among those with low victim-blaming attitudes, victim-blaming attitudes strengthened among those with strong attitudes toward behavioral restrictions.
In Japan, to reduce discrimination and prejudice, it is crucial to conduct public education campaigns in the early stages of an outbreak, specifically targeting people with strong attitudes toward behavioral restrictions, to convey the message that "infection is not the fault of the infected individual."
For the full press release, please see below.