Political orientation and support for social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from Brazil

Abstract

Social distancing practices have been widely recommended to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. However, despite the medical consensus, many citizens have resisted adhering to and/or supporting its implementation. While this resistance may stem from the non-negligible personal economic costs of implementing social distancing, we argue that it may also reside in more fundamental differences in normative principles and belief systems, as reflected by political orientation. In a study conducted in Brazil, we test the relative importance of these explanations by examining whether and how support for social distancing varies according to self-identified political orientation and personal economic vulnerability. Results show that while economic vulnerability does not influence support for social distancing, conservatives are systematically less supportive of these practices than liberals. Discrepancies in sensitivity to threats to the economic system help explain the phenomenon.

The Influence of Gain-Loss Framing and Its Interaction with Political Ideology on Social Distancing and Mask Wearing Compliance During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Second, together with other studies (Kempthorne & Terrizzi, 2021;Ramos et al, 2020;Xu & Cheng, 2021), the present study demonstrated a profound influence of politics in the pandemic. It is noted that the 2020 United States presidential election took place during the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was one of the most intense and contrasting elections to date.…”

“…On the other hand, Republicans are 10 times more likely as Democrats to say the death count is overstated (Ritter, 2020). Ramos et al (2020) argues that the difference in attitudes towards taking these preventative measures are due to the fundamental differences in normative principles and belief systems reflected by one's political ideology. Consistent with this notion, Xu & Cheng (2021) found that a more liberal view was related to a greater tendency to wear a mask and follow social distancing.…”

The influence of gain-loss framing and its interaction with political ideology on social distancing and mask wearing compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Second, together with other studies (Kempthorne & Terrizzi Jr, 2021 ; Ramos et al, 2020 ; Xu & Cheng, 2021 ), the present study demonstrated a profound influence of politics in the pandemic. It is noted that the 2020 United States presidential election took place during the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was one of the most intense and contrasting elections to date.…”

“…On the other hand, Republicans are 10 times more likely as Democrats to say the death count is overstated (Ritter, 2020 ). Ramos et al ( 2020 ) argues that the difference in attitudes towards taking these preventative measures are due to the fundamental differences in normative principles and belief systems reflected by one’s political ideology. Consistent with this notion, Xu and Cheng ( 2021 ) found that a more liberal view was related to a greater tendency to wear a mask and follow social distancing.…”

Factors linked to changes in mental health outcomes among Brazilians in quarantine due to COVID-19

“…The political view of the Brazilian leader has influenced the population's perspective towards quarantine. A study from Ramos et al (2020) showed that Brazilians who share the same political beliefs with the president tend to trust in non-scientific assumptions that reduces their own perception of risk. This distrust leads to less careful behaviours and may have influenced the present results.…”