2022 Beijing winter Olympic games: The effect of media visual primes on American public opinion about the Olympics and China

Abstract

The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics took place when American public opinion about China was already predominantly negative as media reports had a lot of highlights of human rights violations happening in China. Besides, earlier, the global image of China was undermined by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we explored whether American public opinion about the Olympics and China can be influenced by images of the Olympics shared in the media. Findings from the 2 × 2 between-subject experimental design suggest that the opinions about the Olympics can be predicted by people's beliefs about China's role in the global pandemic. In addition to that, our findings suggest that pre-existing opinions and feelings held by most of the population can mitigate the effects of visual primes.

Keywords

2022 Beijing Winter Olympics China national image public opinion visual primes media effects

As the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics closed on February 20, American public opinion about the Games was generally negative. Most Americans believed that the Games were a failure because of perceptions that China effectively shielded foreign visitors from alleged human rights violations in the country: COVID-19 restrictions were too strict and unreasonable; the venues for sports events did not match the Olympic standards; and doping issues overshadowed some of the competition. The lone bright spot was an admission that the completion of the Games during a pandemic demonstrated technological and management competence (IPSOS, 2022). This paper explores whether American public opinion about the Olympics and China can be influenced by images of the Games that often accompany media reports.

Research on priming consistently shows that images are more powerful than narratives in influencing perceptions about objects, people, and issues (Grizzard et al., 2017). The fundamental assumptions of priming theory are that people have accumulated a store of affective evaluations of other people, objects, and issues such as unconscious biases, liking or disliking, positive or negative perceptions; that these evaluations are stored in long-term memory; and that these evaluations can be activated by primes in the environment. Primes include symbols that can be verbal or visual. Photographs and cartoons are common visual primes (Luttig et al., 2017). Some research has suggested that the effect of primes, particularly in activating evaluations of outgroups, is moderated by political ideology (Luttig et al., 2017). That is, liberals and conservatives may respond differently to positive and negative primes.

Although priming theories of perception have been influential in psychology for decades (Bargh et al., 2012), they have only recently been adopted by communication researchers (e.g., Arendt, 2013; Roskos-Ewoldsen et al., 2007; Tan and Vishnevskaya, 2022). Our study tests priming propositions in a media-related context (photographs accompanying a news report) and in the context of a major international sporting event (the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics).

The Olympics have been historically considered windows to the sponsoring country and used by the sponsor to bolster both country and people's perceptions. In general, the Olympics have been successful in doing so (IPSOS, 2022). The Beijing Winter Olympics presented a special case. The Games were held during the global pandemic. Prior to the Olympics, American public opinion about China was the most negative in decades, focusing on issues of human rights, trade practices, technological competition, and COVID-19 (Silver et al., 2021). Our study seeks to identify the conditions (positive or negative primes) when the image of the Olympics can be damaged and when it can be improved.

The media have been criticized by advocacy groups for visually depicting minorities negatively in stereotypical portrayals (Tan, 2021). Recently, the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) and other advocacy groups asked the New York Times and other prominent news outlets to cease using stock photos of Chinatown in their stories about COVID-19. The Times acceded to this request (NBC NEWS, 2020). The assumption was that the photos would link Asians negatively to COVID-19 even when the news reports did not mention Asians. We apply this logic to perceptions of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Would a photo portraying the Olympics negatively lead to negative perceptions of the Olympics?

Considering pre-Olympics public opinion about China in the United States, it is possible that priming effects could be neutralized by prior negative and strong evaluations of China (Silver et al., 2021). Priming effects in the media are more likely to be observed when unconscious biases are held as in inter-group relations. Priming is less likely when attitudes and opinions are explicitly expressed (e.g., Roskos-Ewoldsen et al., 2007).

Earlier studies of media coverage during the 2008 Olympic Games in China found that media agencies and activists organizations, both in the U.S. and Europe, actively performed anti-Chinese media work to frame China in negative light internationally (e.g., Becker, 2011). As the 2022 Winter Olympics convened in Beijing, media reporting and public perceptions about China focused on human rights and COVID-19. The US and several other countries accused China of committing human rights violations. Also, human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have published independent reports alleging China committed crimes against humanity (BBC News, 2022). In January of 2022, the Biden administration announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, citing human rights concerns regarding China's treatment of the Uyghurs in the country's Xinjiang region (PEW, 2022). However, many Americans were unfamiliar with the diplomatic boycotts against China or the Winter Olympics. Negative perceptions of China were also unassociated with alleged human rights violations (PEW, 2022). Instead, the discussion around China leading up to the Beijing Olympics centered on its role in the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of February 2022, hate crimes against Asians and Asian Americans in the United States have risen significantly in the past 12 months, reaching their highest levels since records were kept (NBC NEWS, 2022). According to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism (CSHE), anti-Asian hate crime increased by 339% in 2020 compared to the year before. New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other cities reported record numbers in 2020 (NBC NEWS, 2022). CSHE reports that hate incidents against Asian Americans were not limited to physical aggression and included nonviolent forms of aggression such as verbal harassment and shunning (NBC NEWS, 2022; Rogers et al., 2020).

The non-profit group Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC) suggests that the rhetoric by some elected officials, such as referring to COVID-19 as the “China” or “Wuhan” virus, encouraged and endorsed negative attitudes towards Asian Americans. The Beijing Olympic Games provided a platform for negative conversations about China, COVID-19, and Asians (NBC News, 2022). Thus, in the present study, we analyze attitudes and opinions about China and Asians in general as possible precursors of perceptions of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Recent American public opinion and perceptions of the Chinese government and people

In American public opinion, the Chinese government has been historically seen as a distant, incomprehensible ‘Other’. American foreign policy historically has embodied a series of discriminatory diplomatic actions, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act (Calavita, 2000; Lee, 2021). This view follows the tradition of Orientalism, which defined Orientals (Asians) as foreigners and inferior (Said, 2019). Public opinion surveys also have shown that while more than 50% of Americans have a favorable view of Chinese people, only 35.8% of Americans have a positive attitude toward the Chinese government (e.g., Willnat and Metzgar, 2012). This suggests that Americans evaluated the Chinese and Chinese governments separately. However, American public opinion about the Chinese people became more negative in 2020 as COVID-19 spread around the world. Many Americans blamed China for the pandemic. Anti-Chinese imagery, such as the ‘Chinese virus,’ proliferated in American media and public discourse (Budhwani and Sun, 2020; Tessler et al., 2020).

Visual images and the Olympics

Visuals tend to deliver more powerful messages compared to words (Messaris, 1997). Visual messages have the potential to have faster and stronger emotional connection with the audience than words alone (e.g., Escalas, 2004; Joffe, 2008). Among other beneficial features of the use of visual images is their ability to increase message memorability (e.g., Nelson et al., 1976; Seo, 2020). Aside from the apparent advantages of clarity, approachability, and efficiency, visuals also help overcome language barriers and deliver information more intuitively (Yu, 2019).

Hosting successful Olympic Games can improve a country's worldwide reputation. In both Barcelona 1992 and Sydney 2000, host images were generally positive in the worldwide media (Moragas et al., 1995; Rivenburgh et al., 2005). Pictures and symbols depicting the Olympics have to pass through the country-specific media filters of culture, nationalism, intercultural misunderstanding, routines, and resource limits. Therefore, the effectiveness of Olympic images in projecting a positive national image depends on how these images are presented in the media (Rivenburgh, 2010).

The Olympics host image strategy must include the identification of buildings, monuments, arts, popular culture, geopolitical references, economy, technology, individuals, and other urban or geographic attributes that represent the host locale in terms of values and personality, in addition to the selection of an Olympic logo and mascot (Moragas, 1992). A successful campaign must disseminate these symbols in aesthetically appealing and accessible ways to worldwide media (Moragas, 1992). Repeated media presentations of major visual symbols in the host city and Olympic experiences have been demonstrated to impact audience recall of the host city after the Games. Promoting ‘issues’ and ‘values’ as part of a host image strategy tends to be less successful (Moragas, 1989).

Political identity and Media

With the increasingly polarized political climate, communication researchers have given more attention to how political identity affects how people interact with media. Studies have found that while political identity does not affect the selection of news sources (Nelson and Webster, 2017), it can affect how the media consumer interacts with the media itself. For example, during the 2016 American presidential election, the term ‘fake news’ changed how audiences engaged with the same sources (Jang and Kim, 2018).

Noticing these effects, researchers renewed their focus on political identity and political identity ownership. For example, Kreiss et al. (2020) call for communication scholars to focus on how the political identity of the public changes the ways in which they consume media. One key aspect of the political identity idea is how users interact with the political identity ownership of party leaders and candidates. Additionally, political identities are not static. Instead, ‘they are created over time by political and social actors and made salient at particular moments as an organizing basis of political life, especially by elites such as those vying for public office’ (Kreiss et al., 2020, p.4).

Political identity, primes, and biases

In communication research, political scientists continue to work on defining political identity to better represent a constantly changing political environment. Among core components of political identity within American political parties today are other social and racial identities (e.g., Kreiss et al., 2020). Using the example of former President Donald Trump's campaign, Kreiss et al. (2020) argued that when taking over the ownership of the ‘conservative political identity,’ the former president deeply relied on creating a political narrative of racial tension: ‘Trump's story was, and still is, about Whites who are losing their safety, security, and dominant place in society to Black, Brown, and even anti-American others. And, his story is about how the Republican Party represents the right and true American people, while the Democratic Party and media are “enemies of the people” and full of people who should “go back” to where they supposedly came from’ (Kreiss et al., 2020, p.3).

Studies also indicate a clear political divide in attitudes towards China. Conservatives perceive China as a threat to the U.S. political, economic, and cultural development (e.g., Jin et al., 2022). Simultaneously, self-identified conservatives are cooler towards China compared to self-identified liberals as conservatives in general have more negative feelings toward communist regimes (e.g., Irwin et al., 2023; Tarrance, 2019).

Recent research (e.g., Arendt, 2013; Tan and Vishnevskaya, 2022) suggests that political ideology operationalized as ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal’ should be accounted for in analyses of activation and activation control of implicit biases. Self-identified liberals are more likely to control biases activated by primes; conservatives are more likely to be influenced by negative primes.

While understanding the political spectrum is multifaceted and complex, our study seeks to understand how self-reported political identity impacts perceptions of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics when presented with positively or negatively framed images (as primes) of the Olympics. For this purpose, the self-reported simple conservative-liberal scale is appropriate. Further research can use more complex conceptualizations and measures to identify nuances, but in this early stage of research, a simple test of the interaction of political identity is sufficient to understand the role political identity plays on primed perceptions.

Priming theory

This study applies principles from priming theory to the analysis of possible influences of photographs accompanying a news article on perceptions of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the Chinese government, and the Chinese people. According to priming theory, symbols in the environment can activate mental representations of people and other objects that have been previously learned and stored in long-term memory. These symbols are primes, discrete elements in the environment that are associated with the stored mental representation. The observer may not be consciously aware of the existence of the prime but nonetheless could be influenced in their evaluation and perceptions of the object or person through a priming process. Priming is the incidental activation of stored knowledge and emotion structures such as trait concepts and stereotypes. Therefore, priming activates stored knowledge structures and emotions by signaling to the perceiver a mental or emotional connection between the prime and the original object that had been evaluated (Bargh et al., 2012).

The activation by primes of person and group perceptions, prejudice, stereotypes, and behaviors are well documented in the research literature with consistent results: primes activate behaviors and perceptions consistent with stored mental and emotional representations (e.g., Bargh et al., 2012; Bertrand and Mullainathan, 2004; Luttig et al., 2017; Monahan et al., 2005; Moss-Racusin et al., 2012; Schaffner, 2018).

Recent research has suggested that implicit biases against Asian Americans, primarily as ‘others’ and ‘foreigners’, declined significantly from 2007 through early 2020. However, anti-Asian implicit biases significantly increased after March 2020, coinciding with the increased reference to COVID-19 as the ‘Chinese virus’ and the ‘Wuhan flu’ in social media, by some politicians, and in the conservative media (Darling-Hammond et al., 2020). With the world-wide outbreak of COVID-19, Asians were blamed by politicians and some media for the spread of the virus. For example, there was a 650% increase in Twitter retweets of messages referring to the ‘Chinese virus’ and the ‘Wuhan flu’ and an 800% increase in conservative media references from early February 2020 to early March 2020 (Darling-Hammond et al., 2020). This correlation evidence suggests that words – verbal primes – influenced public perceptions of Asian Americans.

There is considerable evidence that verbal and visual primes influence perceptions of targeted groups in a wide variety of contexts. In this study, we look at the possible influence of photographs on American perceptions of the winter Olympics. As priming theories suggest, we expect positive primes (a photograph depicting a positive image of the Olympics), compared to negative primes (a photograph depicting a negative image), to lead to more positive opinions (H1) and more positive feelings (H2) about the Olympics.

Activation control

Previous studies have shown that responses to positive and negative primes are affected by political ideology (Hodson and Busseri, 2012; Tan and Vishnevskaya, 2022). Conservative participants demonstrate an activation effect (H-1 and H-2) while liberals demonstrate an activation control effect (negative primes lead to positive perceptions.) According to activation control theories (Arendt, 2013; Moskowitz, 2010), people who are not consciously aware of their biases but who wish to control them because of existing predispositions (e.g., political ideology) compensate for these biases when a prime (e.g., a negative portrayal) makes them aware of the bias. Compensation can take the form of a positive or unbiased evaluation of the negatively portrayed group. For example, activation control has been shown in studies of Muslim women and hiring evaluations by adult Americans (Tan and Vishnevskaya, 2022), judgments of guilt or innocence of African American male suspects in a crime by judges (Levinson and Young, 2010), stereotyping of Muslim men as terrorists by Austrian college students (Arendt, 2013) and evaluations of health care patients by medical practitioners (Green et al., 2007). Activation control may be situational, depending on the strength of the priming stimuli and the portrayed group.

Based on principles of priming theory and activation control theory, the rationale for H1 (activation of Olympic perceptions by primes) and H2 (activation control of unconscious biases towards China and the Chinese government) is the assumption that photos provide powerful images that can influence perceptions of the Beijing Olympics. Thus, we predict:
H1: Adult Americans who see a positive photo of the Winter Olympics will express more positive opinions about the Olympics compared to adult Americans who see a negative photo.

H2: Adult Americans who see a positive photo of the Winter Olympics will express more positive feelings about the Olympics compared to adult Americans who see a negative photo.
While priming effects can be moderated by political ideology from the activation control standpoint this relationship is yet to be explored. Thus, we ask the following research question: RQ1: Does political ideology affect responses to positive and negative photos? Additionally, as the effects of priming are less likely to be observed in a situation with explicit attitudes, we also ask: RQ2: Independently of primes and political ideology, would negative perceptions of China predict negative perceptions of the Olympics?

Methodology

We used a 2 X 2 between-subjects experimental design to test our hypotheses. The factors were photo primes (positive or negative) and political ideology (liberal or conservative.) The dependent variables were opinions about the Olympics, feelings towards the Olympics, opinions about the Chinese people, and feelings towards the Chinese people.

Participants

We recruited 800 participants from the m-Turk platform two weeks after the end of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Each participant received a $1 compensation for voluntary participation in the study upon the successful completion of the survey. mTurk is a cost-efficient way to collect survey data. It allows higher generalizability of the findings as the mTurk sample is representative of the population. Studies show that mTurkers are more attentive to the provided instructions than other participants (e.g., college students), which makes mTurkers a reliable sample for social sciences studies (e.g., Hauser and Schwarz, 2016). After cleaning the data, the final sample for the analysis consisted of 670 participants. Also, randomized experiments (such as in this study) typically prioritize internal over external validity.

The average age of the participants was 35.69 years. Among other demographic characteristics of the participants were education (64.2% with bachelor's degree, 19.5% - master's degree, and 6.3% - some college degree); gender (66.7% men); race/ethnicity (80.8% white); political ideology (50% conservative; 38.8% liberal); and political party affiliation (32.4% Republicans; 54.7% Democrats). We collected the data after the study was approved as exempt by the Institutional Research Board at a large U.S. University.

Stimuli

One of the authors collected photos from Getty Images and other internet sources they considered to be positive or negative portrayals of the winter Olympics, the Chinese government, and the Chinese people. A week after the end of the Olympic Games, they showed the photos to graduate students in a seminar and asked them to evaluate the photos. After the discussion, they selected several photos and asked undergraduate students in a North American university (n = 70) to rate them on a positive/negative scale. The following questions were used: Q1: Please indicate, to what extent does the photo that you have just seen present a positive or a negative image of China? Q2: Please indicate, to what extent does the photo that you have just seen presents a positive or a negative image of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games? Both questions used a 5-point Likert-scale, ranging from very negative to very positive.

The author also asked for open-ended comments. The photos rated the most positive and the most negative were used as stimuli in the experiment. The most positive photo depicted the talisman of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics at the Opening Ceremony. The most negative photo depicted hanging effigies, symbolizing the ongoing human rights violations in China.

Measures

Our dependent variables were opinions and feelings about the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. While opinions reflect cognitive appraisal of attributes, such as agreeing or disagreeing with a point of view, feelings are a global emotional attachment summarized as liking or disliking (Moskowitz, 2010). According to priming theories, primes activate stored mental representations (cognitions) and emotions (feelings) (Bargh et al., 2012). We adapted our opinion and emotion measures from recent polls about the Olympics by the Pew Research Center organization (Connaughton, 2022). Opinions and emotions were measured by the Pew Research Center in the context of the pandemic since traditional and social media linked the Olympics, China, and the pandemic in their narratives and discourse. Feelings about the Olympics were measured with a feelings thermometer scale (0–100).

Correlations between items in each composite variable consisting of at least two items ranged from close to zero to .2. These items were adapted from Pew Research Center surveys which use and analyze single items rather than combining items into an index (Silver et al., 2021). While multiple-item measures have higher validity and reliability, the use of single-item measures helps to reduce measurement error (e.g., Bergqvist and Rossiter, 2007; Matthews et al., 2022; Santia et al., 2022). Therefore, instead of using composite indices, we followed the Pew Research Center's lead and used single items to measure opinion and feelings toward the Olympics.

The opinion question was: ‘The Beijing Winter Olympics was a success. Do you: strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, strongly disagree?’. The feelings question was: ‘Please indicate your opinion about the Beijing Winter Olympics: not at all favorable, slightly favorable, moderately favorable, favorable, strongly favorable.’

Although we were not able to assess reliabilities, our use of single items adapted from the Pew Research Center surveys allowed us to proceed with ANOVA, OLS, and t-tests.

In OLS, opinions and feelings about the Olympics were analyzed as dependent variables and photo stimuli, political ideology, and opinions about COVID-19 and China as independent variables. To measure opinions of China we asked the following questions: ‘China is responsible for spreading COVID-19 to the rest of the world. Do you: strongly disagree, disagree, neither agree nor disagree, agree, strongly agree?’, ‘China has done a good job dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak. Do you: strongly agree, agree, neither agree or disagree, disagree, strongly disagree?’, and ‘Please tell us your opinion of the Chinese Government: not at all favorable, slightly favorable, moderately favorable, favorable, strongly favorable’. All three questions were also adapted from the Pew Research Center surveys (Silver et al., 2021).

For the political ideology factor, we used two levels: we compiled participants that were self-identified as ‘very conservative’ and ‘conservative’ in one category and participants who self-identified as ‘very liberal’ and ‘liberal’ in another category. We combined these categories because previous studies have shown that differences in opinions and feelings between ‘conservative’ and ‘very conservative’ and between ‘liberal’ and ‘very liberal’ respondents were generally insignificant (Tan and Vishnevskaya, 2022).

Procedures

We used a randomized between-subjects online experiment administered through two online survey platforms – Qualtrics and mTurk – with two experimental conditions. Participants in the positive prime condition read a news report about low television ratings for the Olympics in the United States accompanied at the top of the report by the positive photo. Participants in the negative prime condition read the same news report accompanied at the top by the negative photo.

Participants completed the study online on their own time. We used Qualtrics to record the survey responses. The questionnaire itself was distributed through the mTurk platform. Participants were asked to provide a randomized four-digit code at the end of the survey. This code was generated by Qualtrics. After the survey was completed, each participant received the monetary compensation. This step was administered by mTurk.

Analysis

We used two-way ANOVA to test for the main effects of the factors on each of the dependent variables and the interaction of the factors on the dependent variables. We used alpha = 0.05 significance level. A G-power analysis (Brysbaert, 2019) shows that a participant pool of 210 in a 2 X 2 between-subjects factorial design detects small effects (0 to 0.3) at .95 power. We also used OLS multiple regression to answer RQ2. We used SPSSv.26 to perform the analysis of the data.

Results

A two-way ANOVA showed that the photos (positive or negative) did not influence opinion about whether the Olympics were a success. The means for the positive and negative photo groups across ideology were not significantly different from each other. As a result, H1 was not supported. The main effect for political ideology was significant (F = 16.6, p < .01). Self-identified conservatives evaluated the Olympics to be more successful (mean = 3.76) than liberals (mean = 3.37).

We did not propose a hypothesis for ideology's effect on opinion because opinions about the Olympics were influenced by opinions on China, human rights, and COVID-19, issues on which liberals and conservatives had differing views. The interaction between photos and political ideology was not significant. Therefore, political ideology did not moderate the effects of photos on opinions about the Olympics (RQ1).

A two-way ANOVA showed no significant main effects for photos and ideology. The interaction was also not significant. Our results did not support H2. Positive photos did not lead to more positive feelings compared to negative photos.

Finally, national polls have shown that negative opinions of the Chinese government are related to opinions that COVID-19 started in China and that the Chinese are responsible for spreading the virus to the rest of the world. In the present study, we test whether opinions about the Chinese government and COVID-19 are related to opinions and feelings about the Olympics, controlling for the valence of photos and political ideology. Since the primes (photos) did not activate feelings and opinions, we ask whether pre-existing perceptions of the Chinese government and COVID-19 affect perceptions of the Olympics (RQ2).

We ran a series of OLS multiple regressions and found that Olympic success (opinion) was significantly predicted by a belief that China was not responsible for spreading COVID-19 to the rest of the world (β = -.174, p < .001), and by a belief that China was doing a good job dealing with COVID-19 (β = .454, p < .001).

Table 1.
Predictors of favorable opinion about the success of the Beijing winter Olympics.

95% CI

Unstandardized β SD p-value LB UB

Belief that China was not responsible for spreading COVID-19 to the rest of the world −.174 .041 <.001 −.254 −.093

Belief that China was doing a good job dealing with COVID-19 .454 .034 <.001 .387 .521

Favorable feelings about the Chinese government .297 .032 <.001 .234 .359

LB and UB indicate Lower and Upper Bounds, respectively.

A favorable attitude toward the Olympics (feelings) was predicted by a belief that China was not responsible for the spread of COVID (β = -1.69, p < .001) and a belief that China was doing a good job dealing with the virus (β = 1.49, p < .001). Feelings about the Chinese government (favorable or unfavorable) also predicted opinions (success or not a success) and feelings (favorable or unfavorable) toward the Olympics: favorable Chinese government feelings predicted favorable opinions towards the Olympics (β = .297, p < .001) and favorable feelings towards the Olympics (β = 2.343, p < .001).

Table 2.
Predictors of favorable attitudes towards the Beijing winter Olympics.

95% CI

Unstandardized* β SD p-value LB UB

Belief that China was not responsible for spreading COVID-19 to the rest of the world −.169 .242 < .001 −2.170 −1.219

Belief that China was doing a good job dealing with COVID-19 1.493 .223 < .001 1.055 1.930

Favorable feelings about the Chinese government 2.343 .183 < .001 1.983 2.702

*LB and UB indicate lower and upper bounds, respectively.

Discussion

Activation

We found no evidence that the primes activated perceptions of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Self-identified liberals and conservatives responded similarly to the photos. Conservatives, independently of the photos, reported more positive opinions and feelings about the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

Activation control

We found no evidence of activation control. Liberals and conservatives did not show control of biases against China and the Olympics when shown a negative photo. The object of activation and activation control in our study differed from objects often studied in priming studies. Our object was an international event closely associated with a nation-state. Most priming studies examine the activation of biases toward marginalized groups such as racial minorities. Stored perceptions of events (e.g., the Olympics) and nation-states (e.g., China) are more complex, based on several dimensions. Perceptions of the Olympics were closely intertwined with non-sporting issues such as COVID-19 (as our regression analysis shows) and human rights.

Perceptions of marginalized groups are based on stereotypes. Political ideologies can moderate the activation of marginalized group biases. For example, liberals attempt to control the activation of unconscious biases (e.g., Tan and Vishnevskaya, 2022). Nation-states and the Olympics present a different context. Evaluation of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, which we found in our study, is based on American perceptions of China, which, in turn, are influenced by perceptions of the COVID-19 and human rights (Silver et al., 2021). Liberals are more critical of China when human rights are the issue; Conservatives are more critical when COVID-19 is the issue (Silver et al., 2021). In our study, conservatives were consistently more supportive of the Olympics than liberals.

These findings from the Pew Research Center and our study suggest that perceptions of China as a major threat by the American public are based on multiple dimensions; human rights, and COVID-19 are among them. Although our study and the Pew Research Center findings did not directly measure the connections between public perceptions of the Beijing Olympics and China as a nation-state, it is reasonable to surmise from our results that for conservatives COVID-19 was the major issue in evaluations of the Olympics, while for liberals, human rights were the defining issue. Future research could build on these findings and explore the issues influencing public discourse about China by conservatives and liberals.

COVID-19, the Olympics, and China

Opinions about COVID-19 and human rights are related to perceptions of China (Silver et al., 2021). Our study shows that COVID-19 opinions and perceptions of the Chinese government are related to opinions and feeling about the Olympics. Therefore, perceptions of the Olympics cannot be separated from existing opinions and feelings about the Chinese government's perceived role in spreading and controlling COVID-19. This link suggests that in the case of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, pre-existing geopolitical perceptions about the pandemic and the Chinese government influenced perceptions of the Olympics independently of primes.

Our results are supported by a multi-national poll conducted on February 20, 2022 (soon after the Olympics closed), which showed that the Olympics did not improve China's image in 13 out of 14 countries surveyed (Yokley, February 24, 2022). China's image did not improve after the Olympics in Russia, Mexico, Italy, the United States, Japan, and South Korea. The exception was Brazil, where China's image improved by 4% points. In the United States, several reasons have been cited for the lack of impact of the Olympics on public perceptions of China (Yokley, February 24, 2022):
Low viewership and lack of interest. Television ratings for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics were the lowest of all previous Olympics, lower than the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea, which had previously been the least watched on television.

Criticism from the Biden administration and other world leaders of China's human rights record led to an American diplomatic boycott and some conservative politicians urging Americans not to watch the Olympics.
Our major contribution to the priming literature is the finding that pre-existing opinions and feelings can neutralize the effects of primes, particularly when these pre-existing perceptions are strongly and explicitly held by the majority of the population. This was the case with China in the United States, where two-thirds of American adults consider China as a major threat (Connaughton, 2022). Contributing to this negative perception are public pronouncements by government officials critical of China's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and its human rights record (Connaughton, 2022). Therefore, unlike prejudice and racism, which are often implicitly held, perceptions of China are explicitly held by the American public and are less likely to be influenced by positive or negative primes.

In conclusion, primes did not activate opinions and perceptions about the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. However, the Olympics were politicized. Attitudes toward the Olympics were influenced by attitudes toward China and COVID-19, suggesting that American public perceptions of this major international sporting event cannot be dissociated from public opinion about the sponsoring nation-state and current issues related to the sponsor. Whether this conclusion can be generalized to other international sporting events is a question for further research.

				95% CI
Belief that China was not responsible for spreading COVID-19 to the rest of the world	−.174	.041	<.001	−.254	−.093
Belief that China was doing a good job dealing with COVID-19	.454	.034	<.001	.387	.521
Favorable feelings about the Chinese government	.297	.032	<.001	.234	.359

				95% CI
Belief that China was not responsible for spreading COVID-19 to the rest of the world	−.169	.242	< .001	−2.170	−1.219
Belief that China was doing a good job dealing with COVID-19	1.493	.223	< .001	1.055	1.930
Favorable feelings about the Chinese government	2.343	.183	< .001	1.983	2.702

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Ethics Approval

This study was approved as exempt by the Institutional Research Board at Washington State University (U.S.).

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Anastasia Vishnevskaya

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				95% CI
	Unstandardized β	SD	p-value	LB	UB
Belief that China was not responsible for spreading COVID-19 to the rest of the world	−.174	.041	<.001	−.254	−.093
Belief that China was doing a good job dealing with COVID-19	.454	.034	<.001	.387	.521
Favorable feelings about the Chinese government	.297	.032	<.001	.234	.359