Abstract
AbstractWith the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, many state and local governments were forced to implement necessary policies to contain transmission of the deadly virus. These policies ranged from closing most businesses to more controversial proposals, such as postponing primary elections. In this research note, we examine the role that scientific knowledge and gender played in citizen perceptions of these virus containment policies, both in the general population and among partisans. We find that while a gender gap persists in scientific knowledge, both in the general population and within the parties, women are generally more likely to use this knowledge to inform their policy views on necessary government action during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings shed light on how knowledge and gender intersect to drive support for government intervention during the time of a severe public health crisis in a partisan America.
Highlights
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, many state and local governments were forced to implement necessary policies to contain transmission of the deadly virus
The results of our models for the full and party-specific samples can be found in Figure 1, which shows the effect of moving from the minimum to maximum value of scientific knowledge on policy support for each gender and the baseline
In the regression model assessing the interactive effect of knowledge and gender on COVID-19 policy preferences, we find that knowledge significantly increased support among Democratic women
Summary
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, many state and local governments were forced to implement necessary policies to contain transmission of the deadly virus. Despite the risks posed by COVID-19, the mass public’s perceptions and beliefs about the virus and relevant policies are mixed While both the federal government and states have implemented policies to contain the transmission of the virus by restricting various societal activities, little is known about what informs support for or opposition to such interventions. We find that women better incorporate scientific knowledge when generating informed opinions regarding COVID-19-related policies than men This relationship is present among members of both parties
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