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The Politicized Pandemic: Ideological Polarization and the Behavioral Response to COVID-19

Author

Listed:
  • Grimalda, Gianluca

    (Kiel Institute for the World Economy)

  • Murtin, Fabrice

    (OECD)

  • Pipke, David

    (Kiel Institute for the World Economy)

  • Putterman, Louis

    (Brown University)

  • Sutter, Matthias

    (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods)

Abstract

We investigate the relationship between political attitudes and prosociality in a survey of a representative sample of the U.S. population during the first summer of the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that an experimental measure of prosociality correlates positively with adherence to protective behaviors. Liberal political ideology predicts higher levels of protective behavior than conservative ideology, independently of the differences in prosociality across the two groups. Differences between liberals and conservatives are up to 4.4 times smaller in their behavior than in judging the government's crisis management. This result suggests that U.S. Americans are more polarized on ideological than behavioral grounds.

Suggested Citation

  • Grimalda, Gianluca & Murtin, Fabrice & Pipke, David & Putterman, Louis & Sutter, Matthias, 2022. "The Politicized Pandemic: Ideological Polarization and the Behavioral Response to COVID-19," IZA Discussion Papers 15032, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15032
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    health behavior; worries; polarization; ideology; trust in politicians; COVID-19; prosociality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • H12 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Crisis Management

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