Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/8396
Title: Representations of swine flu: Perspectives from a Malaysian pig farm
Authors: Goodwin, R
Haque, S
Hassan, SBS
Dhanoa, A
Keywords: Evolutionary psychology;Social representations;Swine flu;Terror management theory
Issue Date: 2011
Publisher: Sage Publications LTD
Citation: Public Understanding of Science, 20(4), 477 - 490, 2011
Abstract: Novel influenza viruses are seen, internationally, as posing considerable health challenges, but public responses to such viruses are often rooted in cultural representations of disease and risk. However, little research has been conducted in locations associated with the origin of a pandemic. We examined representations and risk perceptions associated with swine flu amongst 120 Malaysian pig farmers. Thirty-seven per cent of respondents felt at particular risk of infection, two-thirds were somewhat or very concerned about being infected. Those respondents who were the most anxious believed particular societal “out-groups” (homosexuals, the homeless and prostitutes) to be at higher infection risk. Although few (4%) reported direct discrimination, 46% claimed friends had avoided them since the swine flu outbreak. Findings are discussed in the context of evolutionary, social representations and terror management theories of response to pandemic threat.
Description: © The Author(s), 2010. This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below.
URI: http://pus.sagepub.com/content/20/4/477
http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/8396
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0963662510392484
ISSN: 0963-6625
Appears in Collections:Publications
Psychology
Dept of Life Sciences Research Papers

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