Stigma and misconceptions in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic: A field experiment in India

Asad Islam, Debayan Pakrashi, Michael Vlassopoulos and Liang Wang

Social Science & Medicine, 2021, vol. 278, issue C

Abstract: A hidden cost of the COVID-19 pandemic is the stigma associated with the disease for those infected and groups that are considered as more likely to be infected. This paper examines whether the provision of accurate and focused information about COVID-19 from a reliable source can reduce stigmatization. We carry out a randomized field experiment in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, in which we provide an information brief about COVID-19 by phone to a random subsample of participants to address stigma and misconceptions. We find that the information brief decreases stigmatization of COVID-19 patients and certain groups such as religious minorities, lower-caste groups, and frontline workers (healthcare, police), and reduces the belief that infection cases are more prevalent among certain marginalized social and economic groups (Muslims, low caste, rural-poor population). We provide suggestive evidence that improved knowledge about the prevention and transmission of COVID-19 and reduced stress about the disease are important channels for the reduction in stigmatization.

Keywords: Stigma; COVID-19; Misconceptions; Information; Experiment; Infodemics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D83 I18 J16 J18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Working Paper: Stigma and Misconceptions in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Field Experiment in India (2020)
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DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113966

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