Politicization of COVID-19 health-protective behaviors in the United States: Longitudinal and cross-national evidence.

Wolfgang Stroebe,Eleftheria Tseliou,Edyta Sasin,Andreas Zick,Mai Helmy,Kees Van Veen,Hamdi Muluk,Nóra Anna Lantos,Veljko Jovanović,Vjolica Ahmedi,Idris Mohammed,Robin Wollast,Kamila Kovyazina,Carlos A Almenara,Joshua Krause,Manuel Moyano,Elena Resta,Mohsin Atta,Mioara Cristea,Maja Kutlaca,Cokorda Bagus Jaya Lemsmana,Qing Han,Winnifred R Louis,Daiane Gracieli Faller,Najma Iqbal Malik,Anne Margit Reitsema,Kaja Damnjanović,Bang Zheng,Heyla A Selim,Tra Thi Thanh Kieu,Adil Samekin,Michelle K Ryan,Anton Kurapov,Karen M Douglas,Arobindu Dash,Ben Gützkow,Ali Hamaidia,Erica Molinario,Akira Utsugi,Kira O Mccabe,Sima Basel,Daniela Di Santo,Mirra Noor Milla,Joonha Park,Antonio Pierro,Maximilian Agostini,N Pontus Leander,Allan B I Bernardo,Edward P Lemay,Hayat Muhammad,Michelle R Vandellen,Somayeh Zand,Gennaro Pica,Sára Csaba,Inna Kozytska,Caspar J Van Lissa,Pekka Santtila,Anna Kende,Samiah Sultana,Alexandra Vázquez,Ivan Danyliuk,Paul A O’Keefe,Georgios Abakoumkin,Claudia Zúñiga,Joevarian Hudiyana,Robbie M Sutton,Birga M Schumpe,Phatthanakit Chobthamkit,Jonas Rees,Jannis Kreienkamp,Violeta Enea,Nicholas R Buttrick,Željka Kamenov,Boglárka Nyúl,Jasmina Mehulić,Alexandra Gheorghiu,Marika Rullo,Reza Najafi,Claudia F Nisa,Ding-Yu Jiang,Edona Berisha Kida,Bertus F Jeronimus,Jocelyn J Bélanger,Silvana Mula,Ángel Gómez,Solomiia Myroniuk,Jamilah Hanum Abdul Khaiyom,Adrian Lueders,Sabahat Çiğdem Bağcı ,Handan Akkaş ,Arie W Kruglanksi ,Evgeny Osin ,Yasin Koç ,Anton Philipp Martinez ,Gavan J Fitzsimons ,Hoon‐Seok Choi ,William M Schiavone ,Victoria Wai Lan Yeung ,José Javier Olivas Osuna ,Shian‐Ling Keng ,Michael Stanton ,Iris Žeželj ,Jolien Van Breen

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0256740

Abstract

During the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. conservative politicians and the media downplayed the risk of both contracting COVID-19 and the effectiveness of recommended health behaviors. Health behavior theories suggest perceived vulnerability to a health threat and perceived effectiveness of recommended health-protective behaviors determine motivation to follow recommendations. Accordingly, we predicted that-as a result of politicization of the pandemic-politically conservative Americans would be less likely to enact recommended health-protective behaviors. In two longitudinal studies of U.S. residents, political conservatism was inversely associated with perceived health risk and adoption of health-protective behaviors over time. The effects of political orientation on health-protective behaviors were mediated by perceived risk of infection, perceived severity of infection, and perceived effectiveness of the health-protective behaviors. In a global cross-national analysis, effects were stronger in the U.S. (N = 10,923) than in an international sample (total N = 51,986), highlighting the increased and overt politicization of health behaviors in the U.S.

Highlights

Prior to the development of vaccines, behavioral measures were the primary means of preventing the spread of COVID-19
To examine whether political orientation was associated with health-protective behaviors, we calculated correlations between political orientation at Baseline and World Health Organization (WHO)-recommended health-protective behaviors at all five time points
A limitation of this study is that it is focused only on behaviors initially recommended by the WHO, whereas other behaviors–such as mask wearing and vaccination intentions, may have become more politicized during the course of the pandemic

Summary

Introduction

Prior to the development of vaccines, behavioral measures were the primary means of preventing the spread of COVID-19. We assessed political orientation (conservative vs liberal), perceived risk of getting infected, and willingness to engage in recommended health-protective behaviors. These correlations (see Table 2) show consistently across all time points that the more participants describe their political orientation at baseline as conservative, the lower they perceived their risk of infection.

Results

Conclusion