Partisanship and the Pandemic: New Research from PORES

Thursday, July 23, 2020 - 3:00pm

Check out the Penn Today article highlighting the latest research on partisanship and the pandemic from John Lapinski and Marc Trussler of PORES, along with collaborators Josh Clinton of Vanderbilt University and Jon Cohen of SurveyMonkey. This research found that partisanship, rather than concerns about health, was the main driver in influencing behaviors during the pandemic. Over 650,000 people have been surveyed as part of the research and they intend to continue the study until the November 2020 general election. By understanding partisanship, it could be possible to influence behaviors as folks take cues from political elites, such as governors and the president. In Penn Today, Lapinski says, “I am hopeful that people will start to realize what they should have all along: that COVID isn’t partisan. It treats everybody equally… As people understand that, I think it will be good for public health.”

Read the full paper here: “Partisan Pandemic: How Partisanship and Public Health Concerns Affect Individuals’ Social Distancing During COVID-19.”