During the COVID-19 pandemic, face masks have been recommended by the CDC and the WHO as key to reducing viral transmission. Yet, in the United States, one fifth of individuals say they wear masks at most some of the time, and a majority say that people in their community wear masks at most some of the time. What strategies most effectively encourage compliance with this critical covid-19 prevention measure? Relying on social identity theory, we experimentally assess two possible mechanisms of compliance, elite endorsement and social norms, among a representative sample of White U.S.–born Evangelicals, a group that has shown resistance to prevention measures. We find evidence for both mechanisms, but social norms play a remarkably important role – increasing support for mask-wearing by 6% with spillover effects on other prevention guidelines. Our findings confirm the role that appeals to norms and elite endorsements play in shaping individual behavior, and offer lessons for public health messaging.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC and the WHO have recommended face masks as key to reducing viral transmission. Yet, in the USA, as the first wave erupted in the Summer of 2020, one-fifth of individuals said they wore masks at most “some of the time”, and a majority said that people in their community wore masks at most “some of the time”. What strategies most effectively encourage compliance with this critical COVID-19 prevention measure? Relying on social identity theory, we experimentally assess two possible mechanisms of compliance, elite endorsement, and social norms, among a representative sample of white US-born Evangelicals, a group that has shown resistance to prevention measures. We find evidence for both mechanisms, but social norms play a remarkably important role – increasing support for mask-wearing by 6% with spillover effects on other prevention guidelines. Our findings confirm the role that appeals to norms and elite endorsements play in shaping individual behavior and offer lessons for public health messaging.
Mastery of knowledge and skills taught in introductory research methods courses is increasingly important for undergraduate political science majors, yet many students struggle in these courses. Online Supplemental Instruction (OSI) may offer a time- and cost-efficient means of supporting these students. However, we know little about the efficacy of these resources in general, or specifically in political methods education. This paper introduces an original OSI resource, “Foundations of Quantitative Research in Political Science,” which includes content on key concepts and application of statistical methods to political problems. Utilizing a pre-registered within-subject experimental design, we find that access to this resource significantly improves student learning. To our knowledge, this study is the first to estimate the causal effects of OSI in political science, and specifically in a political methods course. Moreover, the research design is easily replicated, fair, controls for student-specific characteristics, and generates a large number of observations.
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