Analysis of the different levels of discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina
Keywords:
Individual discrimination, Structural discrimination, Institutional discrimination, Stereotypes, PrejudiceAbstract
Although Argentina has seen an increase in discrimination towards different social groups in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a lack of studies that analyze the distinction between different levels of discrimination. While individual discrimination refers to the singular and harmful behavior of members of one social group towards members of another group, institutional discrimination refers to the policies of dominant institutions that seek to have a biased or harmful effect on other minorities. Structural discrimination, however, is a broader concept that includes policies and behaviors that are neutral in terms of race, ethnicity, or gender but have a differential or harmful effect on minorities. The objective of this research was to examine the three levels of discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina. We developed a cross-sectional study involving 1534 adults of different genders, ages, and socioeconomic levels from Argentina (M age = 43.63 years; SD = 16.63; 51.7% women). The main findings indicated that 38.8% of the participants had been victims of discrimination in the last year during the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority responded that the main reason was not necessarily related to the pandemic but to their ideology or political beliefs. Additionally, no significant differences were found according to gender but significant differences were found according to age in the three levels of discrimination. These findings suggest that discrimination and conflicting intergroup relations during a pandemic scenario remain a more controversial and priority issue for Argentina.
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