ABSTRACT

Based on a taxonomy of collective fears, the objective of the study (N = 1,144) was to analyse how the original reasons attributed to an object of fear play a role in collective angst and to study how these attributions are linked to differentiated social representations of the object. The results show that the underlying reasons (human vs. non-human; intentional vs. unintentional) organize the socio-representational field of the coronavirus. Moreover, the fact of considering the viral epidemic as reversible (vs. irreversible) also plays a role in the socio-representational universe of individuals. Finally, we observe that the attribution of a human origin to the virus is linked to greater collective angst than an attribution to a natural origin. These first results show that it is important to focus on the attribution of the origin of objects of fear in order to understand its consequences in terms of social representations and collective angst.

摘要

基于集体恐惧的分类，研究的目标（N = 1,144）旨在分析归因于恐惧对象的原始原因如何在集体焦虑中发挥作用，并研究这些归因如何与对象的不同社会表征相关联。结果表明，根本原因（人类与非人类；有意与无意）构成了冠状病毒的社会表征领域。此外，将病毒流行视为可逆（相对于不可逆）这一事实也在个人的社会代表世界中发挥作用。最后，我们观察到将病毒归咎于人类与归咎于自然来源相比，与更大的集体焦虑有关。