Abstract
Many government strategies to reduce the spread of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) involved unprecedented restrictions on personal movement, disrupting social and economic norms. Although generally well-received in Australia, community frustration regarding these restrictions appeared to diverge across political lines. Therefore, we examined the unique effects of the ideological subfactors of Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA; Aggression, Submission and Conventionalism) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO; Dominance and Anti-egalitarianism) in predicting perceived personal threat of COVID-19, and support for and reactance to government restrictions, in Australian residents across two separate samples (S1 N = 451, S2 N = 838). COVID-19 threat was positively predicted by Submission, and negatively by Conventionalism, and Anti-egalitarianism. Support for restrictions was also positively predicted by Submission, and negatively by Conventionalism, Dominance, and Anti-egalitarianism. Reactance to government restrictions was negatively predicted by Submission, and positively by Conventionalism, Dominance, and Anti-egalitarianism. These findings suggest that right-wing ideological subfactors contribute to the one's perception of COVID-19 threat and government restrictions differentially.
Highlights
Late 2019 saw the emergence of the global threat of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)
While Australia’s relative success in handling community outbreaks likely resulted from these measures (Anderson et al, 2020), political disagreement on the type and length of these restrictions per sisted throughout 2020 (McGowan, 2020), potentially indicating a growing political divide on how the country should manage COVID-19. It is possible this political divergence could be partially attributed to underlying ideological differences, such as the subfactors of Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), with each uniquely contributing to the perceived personal threat of COVID19 and responses to government restrictions
Based on past work examining the differential effects of RWA and SDO subfactors on other socio-political outcomes, we argue that this approach has merit in the context of COVID-19
Summary
Late 2019 saw the emergence of the global threat of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). In Australia, federal and state governments mandated several restrictions to mitigate the potential health impacts of COVID-19, which involved reducing social activities and movement that required physical contact or close proximity with others (Department of Health, 2020). While Australia’s relative success in handling community outbreaks likely resulted from these measures (Anderson et al, 2020), political disagreement on the type and length of these restrictions per sisted throughout 2020 (McGowan, 2020), potentially indicating a growing political divide on how the country should manage COVID-19. It is possible this political divergence could be partially attributed to underlying ideological differences, such as the subfactors of Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), with each uniquely contributing to the perceived personal threat of COVID19 and responses to government restrictions
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