Political Ideology and the Perceived Impact of Coronavirus Prevention Behaviors for the Self and Others

Abstract

At the time of this writing, COVID-19 has spread rapidly worldwide. Even though the United States became the epicenter of the pandemic in April 2020, partisan differences have been observed in terms of willingness to engage in coronavirus-prevention behaviors. Across four studies and an exploratory pilot study, we demonstrate that conservatives differ from liberals in their perceptions of preventive behaviors. Conservatives view preventative actions as being less impactful on others, which is partially due to their beliefs regarding personal responsibility. Building on this, we also demonstrate the downstream benefits of using selfbenefit versus other-benefit appeals to target conservatives versus liberals. In doing so, we show that communicating about self-benefits can minimize differences between conservatives and liberals in COVID-19 prevention-behavior compliance. This work contributes to the literature on political ideology and offers practical implications for policymakers and health organizations making every effort to encourage behaviors that prevent the spread of viral infections.

Balancing the Freedom–Security Trade-Off During Crises and Disasters

“…This internalization can then cause people to feel greater freedom because they value following restrictions enough that they would choose to do so even without external mandates (Deci et al, 1994;Moller et al, 2006). In line with previous work on the value of understanding, initial research in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic has found that people who perceive preventative measures as more effective are more likely to adhere to government guidelines like wearing masks (Broomell et al, 2020;Cakanlar et al, 2021;Clark et al, 2020;Sprengholz et al, 2020). Moreover, providing information about the benefits behind pandemic policies reduced reactance in the face of restricted freedom (Sprengholz et al, 2020).…”

Resistance to Persuasion: Examining the Influence of Political Ideology on COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Hesitancy

“…However, the results of Study 1 demonstrate that factual information is not the only consideration driving subjects' attitudes about the COVID-19 vaccine. Recent studies indicate that individuals' political ideology strongly influences their perceptions and acceptance of risk (Cakanlar et al,. 2020;Nowlan and Zane, 2020;Roozenbeek et al, 2020;Van der Linden et al, 2020), making it of particular importance in determining vaccine attitudes.…”

“…In their examination of the role of political ideology in consumer reaction to multiple consumption regulations (e-cigarettes, food warning labels, and using mobile phones while driving), Irmack and others (2020) found that the position held by the political party that subjects support affects how they cognitively and affectively process information presented to them about an issue. Moreover, numerous studies demonstrate that political ideology is a key contributor to individuals' attitudes about the level of threat attributed to the COVID-19 virus (Cakanlar et al, 2020;Kelly et al, 2020;Nowlan and Zane 2020;Roozenbeek et al, 2020;Van der Linden et al, 2020), as well as the efficacy of the vaccine (Bechler and Tormala, 2020;Chou and Budenz, 2020;Tyson et al, 2020).…”

“…Additionally, the use of language that is perceived as threatening their freedom has been found to trigger reactance among those with opposing views and high attitude certainty (Miller et al, 2013;Richards et al, 2017). Therefore, tailoring messages to recipients based on their pre-existing attitudes and political ideology (Cakanlar et al, 2020), and incorporating nonthreatening, empathetic narratives (Reynolds-Tylus, 2019) should contribute to positive outcomes in this context.…”

“…Additionally, given the findings of recent scholars examining antecedents to attitudes about the COVID-19 vaccine, future studies might test persuasive message strategies incorporating frames based on personal responsibility (Cakanlar et al, 2020) or information seeking intent (Kelly et al, 2020) to determine if these factors play a role in attitude formation and change.…”