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A Partisan Pandemic: How COVID-19 Was Primed for Polarization

Author

Listed:
  • Austin Hegland
  • Annie Li Zhang
  • Brianna Zichettella
  • Josh Pasek

Abstract

Americans who affiliate with both major political parties rapidly formed diverging attitudes about the COVID-19 pandemic. Matters of scientific concern have elicited partisan reactions in the past, but partisan divergence of opinion on those issues occurred over decades rather than months. We review evidence on factors that led to polarization of previous scientific issues in an effort to explain why reactions diverged so quickly this time around. We then use publicly available survey data to reveal that partisan reactions to the pandemic were closely associated with trust in public health institutions, that the association between partisanship and trust increased over time, and that the conflation of trust and partisanship appears to largely explain polarized reactions to COVID-19. We also investigate the hypothesis that conservative media use might explain polarization but find that the hypothesis is not supported by our data.

Suggested Citation

  • Austin Hegland & Annie Li Zhang & Brianna Zichettella & Josh Pasek, 2022. "A Partisan Pandemic: How COVID-19 Was Primed for Polarization," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 700(1), pages 55-72, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:700:y:2022:i:1:p:55-72
    DOI: 10.1177/00027162221083686
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Allcott, Hunt & Boxell, Levi & Conway, Jacob & Gentzkow, Matthew & Thaler, Michael & Yang, David, 2020. "Polarization and public health: Partisan differences in social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    2. Lawrence C. Hamilton, 2016. "Public Awareness of the Scientific Consensus on Climate," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(4), pages 21582440166, November.
    3. Robert Brulle & Jason Carmichael & J. Jenkins, 2012. "Shifting public opinion on climate change: an empirical assessment of factors influencing concern over climate change in the U.S., 2002–2010," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 169-188, September.
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    1. Stephan Lewandowsky & Konstantinos Armaos & Hendrik Bruns & Philipp Schmid & Dawn Liu Holford & Ulrike Hahn & Ahmed Al-Rawi & Sunita Sah & John Cook, 2022. "When Science Becomes Embroiled in Conflict: Recognizing the Public’s Need for Debate while Combating Conspiracies and Misinformation," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 700(1), pages 26-40, March.

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