Abstract (may include machine translation)
What are the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for people’s political attitudes and behavior? We tested, specifically, whether the psychological burden of the COVID-19 pandemic relates to antisystemic attitudes (dissatisfaction with the fundamental social and political order), peaceful political activism, and political violence. Nationally representative two-wave panel data were collected via online surveys of adults in the United States, Denmark, Italy, and Hungary (ns = 6,131 and 4,568 in Waves 1 and 2, respectively). Overall, levels of antisystemic attitudes were low, and only a small share of interviewees reported behavioral intentions to participate in and actual participation in political violence. However, preregistered analyses indicated that perceived COVID-19 burden was associated with antisystemic attitudes and intentions to engage in political violence. In the United States, the burden of COVID-19 was also associated with self-reported engagement in violence surrounding the Black Lives Matter protests and counterprotests. We found less robust evidence that perceived COVID-19 burden was associated with peaceful activism.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 1391-1403 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Psychological Science |
Volume | 32 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2021 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Black Lives Matter
- COVID-19
- antisystemic attitudes
- open data
- open materials
- police brutality
- political activism
- political violence
- preregistered
- protest