A new study conducted by Associate Professor Lanier Holt, Ph.D. student Sophie Kjaervik and Professor Brad Bushman has found that calling COVID-19 the “Chinese virus” – a term rejected by health officials and tied to antagonism against people of Asian descent – did affect views of Americans who saw the term in a news article.

Researchers at The Ohio State University found that people who read the term “Chinese virus” in a fabricated media report about the coronavirus were more likely to later blame China for the pandemic than people who read the same report that used the correct term, “COVID-19.”

The effect was found in participants regardless of their political party and ideology, although the effect was modest.