Political ideology and pandemic lifestyles: the indirect effects of empathy, authoritarianism, and threat

Abstract

Background In this paper, we integrate theory and research from sociology, psychology, and political science to develop and test a mediation model that helps to explain why political conservatism is often associated with pandemic behaviors and lifestyles that are inconsistent with public health recommendations for COVID-19. Methods Using national data from the 2021 Crime, Health, and Politics Survey (n = 1743), we formally test the indirect effects of political conservatism (an index of Republican party identification, conservative political orientation, right-wing news media consumption, and 2020 Trump vote) on pandemic lifestyles (an index of social distancing, hand sanitizing, mask usage, and vaccination) through the mechanisms of empathy (concern about the welfare of others), authoritarian beliefs (authoritarian aggressiveness and acquiescence to authority), and pandemic threat perceptions (threats to self and to the broader society). Result Our results confirm that political conservatism is associated with riskier pandemic lifestyles. We also find that this association is partially mediated by lower levels of empathy, higher levels of authoritarian beliefs, and lower levels of perceived pandemic threat. Conclusions Understanding why political conservatism is associated with riskier pandemic lifestyles may eventually lead us to ways of identifying and overcoming widespread cultural barriers to critical pandemic responses.

Health Lifestyle Theory in a Changing Society: The Rise of Infectious Diseases and Digitalization

“…Social distancing and home isolation led to more walking and bicycling outdoors but also to more snacking and consuming alcohol indoors (Vincent 2023). However, acceptance or rejection of COVID practices was prompted by structural variables, such as socioeconomic status (SES), age, gender, and the influence of social networks and political ideologies (Cockerham and Cockerham 2021;Hill et al 2022;Mollborn, Mercer, and Edwards-Capen 2021;Ryan 2021).…”

“…Vaccination, for example, had the greatest likelihood of ending the pandemic but became a highly divisive lifestyle practice because of fear of harm by vaccines and a political issue as an infringement on individual rights (Cockerham and Cockerham 2021;Hill et al 2022). Women were found to have greater COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy than men, especially those with low SES, while lacking a college education was a significant variable among the vaccinehesitant for both sexes (Morales, Beltran, and Morales 2022).…”

Gender Role Discrepancy Stress and COVID-19 Prevention Behaviors Among Men in the United States

“…3 Emerging research supports this hypothesis for a number of COVID-19 prevention behaviors, which are reportedly lower among men compared to women in a variety of settings and subpopulations. [4][5][6][7] Understanding how gender influences men's care engagement is critically important to the development of public health programming tailored to men's needs, and in turn, to improving public health efforts for pandemic control. Thus, this study sought to examine how masculine norms affect men's engagement in COVID-19 preventative behaviors in the United States, with a focus on gender role discrepancy stress.…”

Do Men and Women Integrate Guns into Risky Health Lifestyles in Young Adulthood?

“…Over the past decade, researchers have considered how individual health behaviors (e.g., smoking, drinking, exercise, and risky sexual behaviors) cluster together to form health lifestyles or patterns of behavior related to chronic disease risk (Cockerham 2005(Cockerham , 2007(Cockerham , 2013a(Cockerham , 2013b. During the COVID-19 pandemic, studies have extended the concept of health lifestyles to pandemic lifestyles or patterns of behavior related to infectious disease risk, including social distancing, mask usage, hand sanitizing, and vaccination (Hill et al 2022). Health lifestyles are associated with diverse health outcomes such as self-rated health and cardiovascular risk (Burdette et al 2017;Lawrence, Mollborn, and Hummer 2017).…”

“…During the COVID‐19 pandemic, studies have extended the concept of health lifestyles to pandemic lifestyles or patterns of behavior related to infectious disease risk, including social distancing, mask usage, hand sanitizing, and vaccination (Hill et al. 2022). Health lifestyles are associated with diverse health outcomes such as self‐rated health and cardiovascular risk (Burdette et al.…”