Stability or change of public opinion and values during the coronavirus crisis? Exploring Dutch longitudinal panel data

Abstract

Some participants of the public debate have argued that the world before and after the coronavirus crisis will look fundamentally different. An underlying assumption is that this crisis will alter public opinion in such a way that it leads to profound societal and political change. Scholarship suggests that while some policy preferences are quite volatile and prone to change under the influence of crises, core values formed during childhood are likely to remain stable. In this article, we test stability or change of a well-selected set of opinions and values before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We rely on a unique longitudinal panel study whereby the Dutch fieldwork of the European Values Study 2017 web survey serves as a baseline; respondents were re-approached in May 2020. The findings indicate that values remain largely stable. However, there is an increase in political support, confirming the so-called rally effect. We conclude our manuscript with a response to the futurists expecting changes in public opinion because of the coronavirus crisis.

The impact of the coronavirus crisis on European societies. What have we learnt and where do we go from here? – Introduction to the COVID volume

“…With respect to the coronavirus pandemic, one might wonder to what degree the world before and after the crisis differs. The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic did not cause opinions and values in the Netherlands to change much and when so, there was a tendency toward a positive shift (an increase in political support), illustrating the so-called 'rally effect', along with heightened civic concern about privacy due to the new regulations (Reeskens et al 2020).…”

Ten considerations for conservation policy makers for the post-COVID-19 transition

“…Given that public opinion is inextricably linked to policy and politics (Rose et al, 2018), understanding and addressing the drivers of slow adoption is crucial. Although various interest groups can have some influence on public opinion (and thus policy), there is evidence from the pandemic that core values developed during childhood remain relatively stable, even in the face of uncertainty and upheaval (Reeskens et al, 2021). As such, continued efforts to infuse conservation and environmental issues into early childhood education remain of high priority especially given that such efforts can lead to intergenerational learning about conservation (Marchini and Macdonald 2020).…”

Locked Down or Locked In? Institutionalized Public Preferences and Pandemic Policy Feedback in 32 Countries

“…Governments around the world varied in the timing and severity of measures such as national lockdowns, imposing curfews, and contact tracing. Surprisingly, strict lockdowns early in this pandemic often led the public to become more supportive of the incumbent government and democratic institutions (Baekgaard et al, 2020;Bol et al, 2020;Reeskens et al, 2020), something known as the "rally around the flag" effect. However, after some time, more and more members of the public began acting against government regulations by refusing to wear masks, holding social gatherings, or even engaging in mass protests.…”