"Do your part: Stay apart": Collective intentionality and collective (in)action in US governor's COVID-19 press conferences

Abstract

This mixed-methods study examines how political leaders mobilize collective intentionality during the COVID-19 pandemic in nine US States, and how collective intentionality differs across republican and democratic administrations. The results of our qualitative and quantitative analyses show that i) political leaders establish collective intentionality by emphasizing unity, vulnerability, action, and community boundaries; ii) political leaders’ call to collective action clashes with the inaction required by health guidelines; iii) social inequalities received little attention across all states compared to other themes; iv) collective intentionality in democratic administrations is linked to individuals’ agency and actions, suggesting a bottom-up approach. Conversely, in republican administrations individuals’ contributions are downplayed compared to work and state-level action, indicating a top-down approach. This study demonstrates the theoretical and empirical value of collective intentionality in sociological research, and contributes to a better understanding of leadership and prosociality in times of crisis.

When “Everyone has a Role to Play” – How Political Ideologies Shape Political Leaders’ Narratives on Governmental and Civic Roles in Times of Crises

“…Collective intentions are central to mobilizing joint social action (Chant, 2017). Collective intentionality facilitates thinking and acting as one within social groups, evoking feelings of responsibility, obligation, and commitment (Kirgil and Voyer, 2022). Previous work (Tollefsen and Gallagher, 2017: 108) highlights that we-narratives -narratives addressing the boundaries of social groups (e.g.…”

“…Political leaders are commonly viewed as representatives of the government and citizens (Bhatia, 2006;Kirgil and Voyer, 2022), and use public narratives to inspire action across groups (Ganz, 2008). Narratives produce a structure that provides coherence and meaningfulness to events (Tollefsen and Gallagher, 2017: 101), and constitute the lifeblood of politics (Shanahan, Jones, McBeth, and Radaelli, 2018: 173).…”

“…Narratives produce a structure that provides coherence and meaningfulness to events (Tollefsen and Gallagher, 2017: 101), and constitute the lifeblood of politics (Shanahan, Jones, McBeth, and Radaelli, 2018: 173). To this end, during the COVID-19 pandemic, political leaders drew on more charismatic and collective elements in crises (Bligh, Kohles, and Meindl, 2004), and mobilized collective intentions to evoke unity and action (Kirgil and Voyer, 2022).…”

“…Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the speeches of political leaders were in the public spotlight shaping both the nature of the public discourse as well as the boundaries of the political community. These aspects of crisis leadership are not merely a response to the crisis that reflects the character and boundaries of the political community, they are also a tool wielded by representatives of the State (Kirgil and Voyer, 2022). Crises magnify the discursive elements of national politics to legitimize action and thus present a socio-rhetorical construct calling for unprecedented action (Kiewe, 1998: 80).…”

“…While liberals tend to use moral foundations that relate to equality, conservatives call upon moral foundations concerned with conformity (Graham, Haidt, and Nosek, 2009;Milesi and Alberici, 2018). Similarly, a mixedmethods study found that Republican governors focused more on governmental action to tackle the pandemic using a hierarchical approach, while Democratic governors emphasized each individual's agency to contribute to the COVID-19 crisis using an equality approach (Kirgil and Voyer, 2022).…”