Is the link between political conservatism and pandemic precautions similar across countries?

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U.S.-based research suggests that political conservatism is associated with less concern about contracting coronavirus and fewer preventive behaviors to avoid infection.

The researchers investigated whether these tendencies were partly attributable to distrust in scientific information and whether they extended beyond the U.S. They used public data and recruited representative samples across three studies, with a total N of 34,710.

Studies 1 and 2 examined these relationships in the U.S. Both provided converging evidence for a sequential indirect effect linking conservatism to compliance through trust or distrust in scientific information, followed by concern about infection. This describes an indirect association, rather than establishing causation.

Study 3 compared these relationships across 19 distinct countries. The relationships among trust in scientific information about coronavirus, concern about coronavirus infection, and compliance were consistent across countries. However, the relationship between conservatism and trust in scientific information was not consistent across countries; it was strongest in North America.

Accordingly, the indirect effects observed in Studies 1 and 2 replicated only in North America—the U.S. and Canada—and in Indonesia. Study 3 also found parallel direct and indirect effects on support for lockdown restrictions.

The researchers concluded that the associations between conservatism and compliance were not universal, but localized to particular countries where conservatism was more strongly related to trust in scientific information about the coronavirus pandemic.