Ideological responses to the breaking of COVID-19 social distancing recommendations

Abstract

COVID-19 has plagued the globe since January 2020, infecting millions and claiming the lives of several hundreds of thousands (at the time of writing). Despite this, many individuals have ignored public health guidance and continued to socialize in groups. Emergent work has highlighted the potential role that ideology plays in such behavior, and judgements of it. In response to this contemporary cultural phenomenon, we tested whether judgements of those allegedly flouting the guidance on social distancing were influenced by an interaction between the ideologies of those providing judgements, and those allegedly breaking the rules. Our data suggest that judgements of those flouting social distancing guidance are influenced by ideology in a symmetrical way. That is, both liberals and conservatives condemn outgroup flouting more than ingroup flouting. We discuss this finding in the context of theoretical work into ideological symmetries, and the implications of growing ideological polarization in contemporary Western democracies.

Different Correlates of COVID-19-Related Adherent and Dysfunctional Safety Behavior

“…anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic (5,33,34). On the other side, we only find meaningful associations between acquiring information on COVID-19 from acquaintances and dysfunctional safety behavior.…”

“…It is important to keep in mind that regression parameters are already conditioned on each other: fear and anxiety-related estimates represent the isolated contribution of each of these dimensions of safety behavior. Also, recent literature suggests a distinction between the fear of COVID-19 and anxiety ( 2 , 5 , 6 , 33 , 34 ). Importantly, the link between COVID-19-related fear and adherent safety behavior appears to be more pronounced than the link between COVID-19-related fear and dysfunctional safety behavior .…”

“…This idea is in line with the negative correlation between generalized anxiety and subjective levels of information regarding COVID-19 [( 42 ), but see also ( 19 )]. Again, there is some evidence that hints toward a difference in quality between COVID-19-related fear and generalized anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic ( 5 , 33 , 34 ). On the other side, we only find meaningful associations between acquiring information on COVID-19 from acquaintances and dysfunctional safety behavior .…”

Health versus Wealth during the Covid-19 Pandemic

“…The second feature is that the debate between health versus wealth, especially in the UK and the United States, seems to be conducted alongside the classic left-right political divide, with those on the right favoring the markets and those on the left prioritizing saving lives ( Williams 2020 ). A similar ideological divide has been found with regard to adherence to social distancing measures ( Harper and Rhodes 2020 ; Rothgerber et al 2020 ). The third feature of the health versus wealth debate, and of social distancing and lockdown policies in general, has been the concern for the loss of civil liberties and an expansion of the surveillance state ( Hinsliff 2020 ; Mingardi 2020 ; Singer and Sang-Hun 2020 ; Snower 2020 ).…”

Data analytics to evaluate the impact of infectious disease on economy: Case study of COVID-19 pandemic

“… 6 Evidence suggests that a second, more intense spike can occur if social distancing protocols are broken too soon, and that may cause an inevitable negative impact on financial markets. 7 , 8 From the beginning of the outbreak, the financial markets have tried to respond to regular developments considering the global pandemic. We can see effects in the labor supply, which are attributed to three areas: mortality due to infection, morbidity due to infection, and morbidity arising from caregiving for affected family members.…”