Changes in Dangerous and Competitive Worldviews During the Coronavirus Epidemic: Evidence from a Large-Scale U.S. Panel Study

Abstract

Extant psychological research has highlighted that perceiving the world as a dangerous or as a competitive place influences major sociopolitical attitudes and ideologies. However, considerably less emphasis has been placed on how these perceptions change over time. We hypothesized that such perceptions of the world might be particularly susceptible to changes during a time of high uncertainty such as the early onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a large (N = 1600) and nationally representative sample of the American population, results show that across the span of one year (i.e., the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic), dangerous but not competitive worldviews significantly increased. Results highlight that this increase was significantly larger for conservatives, whites and older Americans. Further, those who endorsed both worldviews highly at T1 (April 2020) reported significantly smaller increases on average at T2 (August 2021), suggesting that the world was perceived as more dangerous and more competitive one year later particularly for those who saw it as safer and more cooperative at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings highlight that worldviews are malleable, and that specific demographic characteristics and existing worldview beliefs could influence the degree to which worldviews change across time.