‘Dirty foreigners’ are to blame for COVID-19: impacts of COVID stress syndrome on quality of life and gratitude among Singaporean adults

The outbreak of COVID-19 has caused widespread emotional distress. The current study sought to ascertain the impact of COVID stress syndrome on quality of life and gratitude. The COVID-19 Stress Scale, COVID-19 Quality of Life Scale, and Gratitude Resentment and Appreciation Scale were administered to 199 Singaporeans. Data were collected online using convenience sampling between December 2020 and March 2021. Pearson correlations and hierarchical regression analyses were used to test the research hypotheses. The results showed that fear of spreading SARSCoV2 by foreigners was the most stressful fear among Singaporeans (M = 2.59), while traumatic stress by COVID-19 was the least stressful fear (M = 0.16). COVID stress syndrome was positively correlated with negative quality of life (r ranged from .25 to .66) and negatively correlated with gratitude (r ranged from −.29 to −.14). Xenophobia was also found to be the most influential factor in reducing quality of life (β = .52) and gratitude (β = −.37) during the pandemic. Study findings demonstrate how COVID-19 increases Singaporeans’ xenophobic attitudes towards foreigners, making them more vulnerable to the pandemic.