If the number of infections falls significantly over the course of a pandemic in response to political measures, this reduces people's feelings of fear and panic behavior more than the number of infections and the measures themselves. This is the result of a study by Professor Dr. Michael M. Bechtel, member of the ECONtribute Cluster of Excellence and Professor of Political Economy at the University of Cologne, Professor Dr. William O'Brochta (Louisiana Tech University) and Professor Dr. Margit Tavits (Washington University in St. Louis). The study was published in the Journal of Experimental Political Science.
In order to examine the influence of political measures on fear in the population during a pandemic, the researchers surveyed almost 5,500 participants from the USA in spring 2020 as part of a survey experiment that mimicked the corona pandemic. The respondents were shown the course of a wave of infection and then shared how emotionally frightened they were. The researchers varied how severe the outbreak was, how quickly and harshly politicians reacted and how the number of infections developed two weeks later.
The result
The level of anxiety and the tendency to panic buy among participants increased by an average of two to eight percentage points as the infection outbreak became more severe. Fear had little influence on how quickly and with what measures politicians took countermeasures. Drastic measures such as lockdowns were also accepted by large parts of the population. This shows that the media-effective actions of the anti-corona movements differ greatly from the emotional states of the population as a whole. For the population in the USA, what was important was not how drastic the political reactions to the infection were, but rather whether they were effective: if the numbers fell two weeks after the political measures were taken, mass fear fell by a good third. Fear and panic behavior are therefore primarily influenced by the actual effectiveness of political measures.
However, when it comes to the effects of political measures on the participants' anxiety levels, it did not matter how much they knew about the virus or their party political views. Although Republicans are generally more skeptical of coronavirus measures than Democrats, they showed similar patterns of fear and panic.
“Because the drivers of fear are stable across party political camps, parties can cooperate more closely with each other in times of crisis to ensure social stability and the well-being of the population.”
Professor Dr. Michael Bechtel from the ECONtribute Cluster of Excellence and Center for Comparative Politics at the University of Cologne
Implementing effective political measures is fundamental to limiting anti-democratic populism and strengthening trust in political institutions.
“Crises can only be combated effectively if politicians effectively reduce fear among the population.”
Professor Dr. Michael Bechtel from the ECONtribute Cluster of Excellence and Center for Comparative Politics at the University of Cologne
ECONtribute: The only cluster of excellence in economics
ECONtribute is the only cluster of excellence in economics funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), supported by the universities in Bonn and Cologne. The cluster researches markets in the area of tension between economics, politics and society. The aim is to better understand markets and to analyze market failures in times of social, technological and economic challenges - such as increasing inequality, global financial crises and digitalization - with a new approach.
Source: German health portal
This might also be of interest: Corona wave: Why don't I get infected?
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