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COVID-19 and Politically Motivated Reasoning
Allegra Maguire1, Emil Persson1, Daniel Västfjäll2
1Department of Management and Engineering, Division of Economics, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
Summary
Politically motivated reasoning did not explain COVID-19 beliefs. Instead, people relied on prior beliefs, suggesting a lack of critical thinking fuels polarization on health topics.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Health Communication
- Behavioral Economics
Background:
- COVID-19 pandemic led to partisan divides in public beliefs.
- Politically motivated reasoning may drive attitude polarization.
- Understanding this reasoning is crucial for public health messaging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate politically motivated reasoning in assessing COVID-19 information.
- To determine if cognitive factors influence this reasoning.
Main Methods:
- Online experiment with 1,500 diverse US participants.
- Republicans and Democrats evaluated identical COVID-19 information.
- Assessed information on lockdowns, social distancing, vaccines, and masks.
Main Results:
- No evidence of politically motivated reasoning in interpreting numerical COVID-19 data.
- Numeric ability and cognitive sophistication did not bolster this reasoning.
- Participants' assessments were based on pre-existing beliefs.
Conclusions:
- Polarized COVID-19 attitudes stem more from lack of reasoning than motivated reasoning.
- Findings suggest new strategies to combat health-related polarization.
- Addressing cognitive biases is key for effective public health communication.
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