The Politicization of Scientific Information during the COVID Pandemic

• In Event: Polarization, Pandemic, and Trust in Political Information (Virtual Session)

Abstract

A major and unexpected feature of the pandemic is the politicization of scientific information and public health behavior. With the emergence of new scientific findings about Covid-19 transmission, public health recommendations became undermined as partisan political elites took opposing issues on key public health guidance. Today, the partisan polarization of masks and vaccines is a central feature of the pandemic. These events raise a question: what effect does politicization have on the acceptance of scientific information.?

To answer this question we examine how public attitudes toward the acceptance of scientific information evolved as politicization occurs. To do so we examine attitudes on two public health recommendations on which scientific knowledge emerged but that differed in the extent to which they were politicized—recommendations about masking and improving ventilation. Shortly following the polarization about masking recommendations and mandates, scientific research showed the value of ventilation in mitigating Covid spread and public health messaging began encouraging Americans to consider indoor air quality and ventilation in indoor public gatherings. Lacking a strong push from political elites, however, this issue never seems to have become politicized.

Using data from a unique, ongoing, nationally representative panel survey of Covid-related attitudes and behaviors, we will explore the politicization and polarization of public health messaging during the Covid-19 pandemic through the lens of masks and ventilation. We will model the evolution of these attitudes over time in response to the changing information and political elite environments. With the pandemic ongoing and future similar health threats likely, understanding the nature of the politicized responses to public health information is important to facilitate the uptake of scientific evidence and public health recommendations in the future.

Authors

• Benjamin Bishin, University of California, Riverside

• Steven Greene, North Carolina State University