Sandlin Evan W, Simmons Daniel J
Center for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Department of Political Science, Saint Michael's College, Colchester, VT, USA.
J Elect Public Opin Parties. 2024;34(4):624-642. doi: 10.1080/17457289.2023.2216461. Epub 2023 May 25.
Previous studies show Republicans have lower risk perceptions of COVID-19 than Democrats. Has this gap in risk perception been consistent throughout the course of the pandemic? Using longitudinal data from the Understanding America Study's longitudinal panel survey we examine how time and vaccination status have changed Republican and Democratic risk perceptions of engaging in various activities (such as grocery shopping, visiting friends and family etc.) as well as risk perceptions of infection, hospitalization, and death due to COVID-19. We find that while Republicans have lowered their perceived risk of activity more than Democrats over time, vaccinated Democrats have lowered their perceived risk of infection, hospitalization, and death more than vaccinated Republicans. These results are robust to inclusion of media consumption and social media use. This divergence on the two measures of risk from COVID-19 may complicate leaders' efforts to move on from the politics of the pandemic toward a return to "normal."
以往的研究表明，共和党人对新冠病毒的风险认知低于民主党人。在整个疫情期间，这种风险认知差距是否一直存在？利用美国理解研究纵向面板调查的纵向数据，我们研究了时间和疫苗接种状况如何改变了共和党人和民主党人对从事各种活动（如杂货店购物、拜访朋友和家人等）的风险认知，以及对感染新冠病毒、住院和死亡的风险认知。我们发现，随着时间的推移，虽然共和党人降低的活动感知风险比民主党人更多，但接种疫苗的民主党人降低的感染、住院和死亡感知风险比接种疫苗的共和党人更多。这些结果在纳入媒体消费和社交媒体使用情况后依然稳健。在新冠病毒风险的这两项指标上出现的这种差异，可能会使领导人努力从疫情政治转向回归“正常”的工作变得复杂化。
