Perceived vulnerability to infectious disease and perceived harmfulness are as predictive of citizen response to COVID-19 as partisanship

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Creator
  • Cassario A.
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Political Science
Abstract
  • Partisans have biased perceptions of objective conditions. At first glance, the COVID-19 pandemic would appear to be an example of this phenomenon. Noting that most citizens have consistently agreed about the pandemic, I argue that we have overlooked pre-political factors that are as influential as partisanship in shaping citizens' responses to the pandemic. I identify one such construct in perceived vulnerability to infectious disease (PVD). In one cross-sectional study and one panel study, I find that the influence of PVD on citizens' perceptions of COVID-19 equals that of partisanship. I also find that PVD can moderate the influence of partisanship on perceptions of harmfulness, nearly erasing the impact of being a Republican on perceiving COVID-19 as a threat. When led by PVD as well as partisanship to accurately perceive harm, citizens, including Republicans, attribute more responsibility to former president Donald Trump for his failed handling of the crisis. © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences.
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Resource type
  • Article
Rights statement
  • In Copyright
License
  • Attribution 4.0 International
Journal title
  • Politics and the Life Sciences
Journal volume
  • 42
Journal issue
  • 2
Page start
  • 277
Page end
  • 290
Language
  • English
Version
  • Publisher
ISSN
  • 0730-9384
Publisher
  • Cambridge University Press

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