Research

The coronavirus pandemic led to unanswered questions, conflicting opinions and the dissemination of misinformation. The resulting uncertainties caused fears and led to discrimination against people and groups who were considered responsible for spreading the virus. This stigmatisation had a negative impact on the physical and mental health of those affected and may even have contributed to the expansion of the pandemic.

We want to explore stigmatisation, which consists of four steps: Perception of otherness and assignment of a label, linking prejudices to the label, categorisation for exclusion, worse treatment and negative perception of the people concerned.
To explain the stigmatisation processes, we use the Health Stigma and Discrimination Framework.

Our research is divided into a number of work packages focussing on various aims and aspects of stigmatisation .