Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Hedy R. Dexter

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed extreme divisions in the social and political structure of the United States. When health organizations recommended strategies such as physical distancing, hand hygiene, sanitation of surfaces, and isolating when sick to slow the spread of the disease, Americans appeared to divide into two factions; those who followed the public health guidance and those who persistently ignored it, often voicing perceptions of loss of freedom due to the guidance. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the extent to which political affiliation moderated the relationship between conspiracy mindset, trust in science, and reactance responses to COVID-19 public health protocols. The social identity approach, a blend of social identity and self-categorization theories explains the polarization in the United States to public health guidance designed to slow the spread of disease. Online surveys were administered via Survey Monkey to 220 American citizens who were active politically. Results indicated that political conservatives were significantly more likely to endorse conspiracy theories and to resist compliance with COVID-19 public health protocols. Additionally, those who distrusted science were significantly more likely to resist compliance with COVID-19 mitigation practices. Findings from this study have the potential to promote positive social change through a better understanding of the reasons for resistance to public health protocols designed to thwart the spread of COVID-19. Importantly, these results can be used to develop messaging that targets those susceptible to conspiracy beliefs and instead direct their attention to the science that informs public safety protocols in the interest of us all.

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