Coronaphobia and Poetic Justice: Psychological Responses During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Coronaphobia, a term coined during the COVID-19 pandemic, refers to fear and anxiety specifically associated with COVID-19. Given the prevalence of retributive thinking, I considered whether some people who treated infected people in a discriminatory manner might have felt a sense of poetic justice (cause-and-retribution thinking). Therefore, this study first aims to investigate the following hypotheses: that trends in coronaphobia declined between 2020 (when the pandemic began) and 2022; that the tendency toward coronaphobia differs depending on age, gender, and whether a person is single or married; and that people who felt a sense of poetic justice towards individuals infected with COVID-19 were more likely to have coronaphobia. This study clarifies the relationship between poetic justice and coronaphobia. A survey was completed by 4783 people, once in 2020 and again in 2022. Among the respondents, the trend of coronaphobia decreased between 2020 and 2022. In addition, older respondents were less prone to coronaphobia than younger respondents. Finally, respondents with a strong sense of poetic justice regarding people infected with COVID-19 were more likely to have coronaphobia. The assessment criterion for 'poetic justice' is whether the cause of infection is attributed to the individual's actions.  These results demonstrate the significant impact of concepts such as cause and effect on people’s behavior and emotions and indicate their importance in understanding individual responses in crises such as pandemics.