Reducing mask resistance among White evangelical Christians with value-consistent messages

Abstract

Public health experts have advocated for wearing protective face masks to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, yet some populations are resistant. Can certain messages shift attitudes toward masks? We investigate the effect of value-consistent messages within a mask-skeptical population: White evangelicals in the United States. An experiment within a national survey of White evangelicals (n = 1,212) assigned respondents to one of three conditions: One group was given a religious message equating mask use with loving your neighbor, another was given a message by Donald Trump saying mask use is patriotic, and a control group received no message. Those exposed to the religious message were more likely to see mask use as important and were more supportive of mask mandates. Republican evangelicals exposed to the patriotism message had similar responses. These findings show that messages that align with individuals’ core values—in this case, religious tenets and patriotism—can shift certain views on mask use and government mask policies to combat COVID-19, even among a comparatively mask-resistant group.

Persuading US White evangelicals to vaccinate for COVID-19: Testing message effectiveness in fall 2020 and spring 2021

“…At neither point in time do we observe that values-based messaging or elite cues are successful at increasing vaccine uptake intentions among White evangelicals, which contrasts with prior work that has found that values-consistent messaging is effective at increasing positive attitudes toward masking ( 3 ). One potential explanation for this divergence is that the values-based messaging in previous work ( 3 ) also had a messenger (e.g., President Trump or an evangelical leader), making it difficult to separate out the effect of the value from the endorsement. Another is that elite discourse had already framed masking as an issue related to the values of freedom and protecting others in August 2020 (when data from ref.…”

“…Another is that elite discourse had already framed masking as an issue related to the values of freedom and protecting others in August 2020 (when data from ref. 3 were collected), while the conversation about vaccination in values terms had not matured in fall 2020 and White evangelicals who are more difficult to persuade remained unvaccinated in spring 2021. Finally, there is also the possibility of publication bias in which work that does not observe effects is not published.…”

“…Yet some people are hesitant to get vaccinated. One group that has emerged as particularly difficult to convince to vaccinate is White evangelicals ( 1 , 2 ), although this group has been shown to be persuadable in August 2020 to wear masks by values-consistent messaging ( 3 ). Important questions are whether White evangelicals can (still) be persuaded to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and are values-consistent messages a promising technique for this group?…”

“…To answer this, we draw on data from two survey experimental studies fielded on nationally representative samples. Study 1 ( n = 855) was fielded in fall 2020 prior to COVID-19 vaccines being available in the United States and around the same time as the masking persuasion study targeting this group ( 3 ). Study 2, fielded in June 2021, was designed to explicitly sample this population and includes 2,419 still unvaccinated respondents.…”

The Messenger Matters: Religious Leaders and Overcoming COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy

“…Academic research suggests that churchgoers often are receptive to political cues from religious elites (Margolis 2018). Evidence also shows that religious leaders can improve the participation of their congregation in public health and even vaccination acceptance (Ruijs et al 2013; Toni-Uebari and Inusa 2009), as well as mask wearing among evangelicals (DeMora et al 2021). Religious cue taking also has been shown to work in the opposite direction: opposition from religious figures has hampered vaccination efforts (Renne 2006).…”