Social representation of coronavirus and the massive epidemic of COVID-19 in Mexico

Abstract

Social representations (SR) of coronavirus and COVID-19 in Mexico were studied in a sample of 860 subjects, of which 622 (72.3%) were women and 238 (27.7%) were men. A questionnaire was applied using Google Format that evaluated the following information: SR of the concept, media, notion of the coronavirus, origin of the concept, close concepts, mortality expectations, opinion on quarantine, objectification and anchoring, level of infection, areas of concern and future scenarios. A representational structure was integrated with a central nucleus made up of concepts of everyday life such as: quarantine and illness, following peripheral notions such as: death, virus and fear and more external elements such as: pandemic, contagion and economy. There is scientific information that understands that the infectious agent mutated naturally and that it is contagious by saliva. Main concerns of the sample are economic and to a lesser degree political conflicts, domestic violence and increase in addictions. It was assured that the level of infections and deaths in Mexico would be lower than in other countries. It was also argued that Mexicans would emerge stronger from this epidemic.