Social Trust as a Predictor of Opinions on COVID-19 Response

Matthew Kingston Harris

doi:doi:10.11648/j.jpsir.20220504.13

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Social Trust as a Predictor of Opinions on COVID-19 Response

Matthew Kingston Harris

Published in Journal of Political Science and International Relations (Volume 5, Issue 4)

Received: 6 September 2022 Accepted: 5 October 2022 Published: 18 October 2022

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Abstract

Social trust has been found to be an important factor in political participation, although this relationship may be dependent upon context. For instance, political views may be influenced by the groups with whom that trust is formed. Prior work has pointed to the importance of social trust in predicting behaviors related to COVID-19 as well as rates of transmission and containment. Leveraging data from the 2020 American National Election Study, the relationship between interpersonal trust and COVID-19 opinions in the United States is examined, specifically looking at views on state and federal COVID-19 responses, belief in vaccines and hydroxychloroquine, feelings towards Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the belief that COVID-19 was developed in a lab. In addition to Republicans and conservatives, as expected, being more skeptical of COVID-19 restrictions and treatments, interpersonal trust is found to be associated with attitudes that both might be expected to mitigate as well as exacerbate COIVD-19 transmission. Further, the effects of interpersonal trust on COVID-19 attitudes are shown to be filtered through a partisan lens, with differing effects of personal trust for Democratic and Republican party identifiers. Such findings add complexity to the role that social trust plays in political and social behaviors in the context of a pandemic.

Published in	Journal of Political Science and International Relations (Volume 5, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.jpsir.20220504.13
Page(s)	112-116
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

American Politics, COVID-19, Social Trust, Survey Research, Partisanship

References

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[14]	Kahan, D., Peters, E., Wittlin, M., Slovic, P., Larrimore Ouellette, L., Braman, D., & Mandel, G. (2012). The Polarizing Impact of Science Literacy and Numeracy on Perceived Climate Change Risks. Nature Climate Change, 2, 732–735. doi: 10.1038/nclimate1547.
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Matthew Kingston Harris. (2022). Social Trust as a Predictor of Opinions on COVID-19 Response. Journal of Political Science and International Relations, 5(4), 112-116. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20220504.13

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ACS Style

Matthew Kingston Harris. Social Trust as a Predictor of Opinions on COVID-19 Response. J. Polit. Sci. Int. Relat. 2022, 5(4), 112-116. doi: 10.11648/j.jpsir.20220504.13

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Matthew Kingston Harris. Social Trust as a Predictor of Opinions on COVID-19 Response. J Polit Sci Int Relat. 2022;5(4):112-116. doi: 10.11648/j.jpsir.20220504.13

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@article{10.11648/j.jpsir.20220504.13,
  author = {Matthew Kingston Harris},
  title = {Social Trust as a Predictor of Opinions on COVID-19 Response},
  journal = {Journal of Political Science and International Relations},
  volume = {5},
  number = {4},
  pages = {112-116},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jpsir.20220504.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20220504.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jpsir.20220504.13},
  abstract = {Social trust has been found to be an important factor in political participation, although this relationship may be dependent upon context. For instance, political views may be influenced by the groups with whom that trust is formed. Prior work has pointed to the importance of social trust in predicting behaviors related to COVID-19 as well as rates of transmission and containment. Leveraging data from the 2020 American National Election Study, the relationship between interpersonal trust and COVID-19 opinions in the United States is examined, specifically looking at views on state and federal COVID-19 responses, belief in vaccines and hydroxychloroquine, feelings towards Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the belief that COVID-19 was developed in a lab. In addition to Republicans and conservatives, as expected, being more skeptical of COVID-19 restrictions and treatments, interpersonal trust is found to be associated with attitudes that both might be expected to mitigate as well as exacerbate COIVD-19 transmission. Further, the effects of interpersonal trust on COVID-19 attitudes are shown to be filtered through a partisan lens, with differing effects of personal trust for Democratic and Republican party identifiers. Such findings add complexity to the role that social trust plays in political and social behaviors in the context of a pandemic.},
 year = {2022}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Social Trust as a Predictor of Opinions on COVID-19 Response
AU  - Matthew Kingston Harris
Y1  - 2022/10/18
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N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20220504.13
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AB  - Social trust has been found to be an important factor in political participation, although this relationship may be dependent upon context. For instance, political views may be influenced by the groups with whom that trust is formed. Prior work has pointed to the importance of social trust in predicting behaviors related to COVID-19 as well as rates of transmission and containment. Leveraging data from the 2020 American National Election Study, the relationship between interpersonal trust and COVID-19 opinions in the United States is examined, specifically looking at views on state and federal COVID-19 responses, belief in vaccines and hydroxychloroquine, feelings towards Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the belief that COVID-19 was developed in a lab. In addition to Republicans and conservatives, as expected, being more skeptical of COVID-19 restrictions and treatments, interpersonal trust is found to be associated with attitudes that both might be expected to mitigate as well as exacerbate COIVD-19 transmission. Further, the effects of interpersonal trust on COVID-19 attitudes are shown to be filtered through a partisan lens, with differing effects of personal trust for Democratic and Republican party identifiers. Such findings add complexity to the role that social trust plays in political and social behaviors in the context of a pandemic.
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Author Information

Matthew Kingston Harris

Department of History, Political Science, and Interdisciplinary Studies, Park University, Parkville, USA

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APA Style

Matthew Kingston Harris. (2022). Social Trust as a Predictor of Opinions on COVID-19 Response. Journal of Political Science and International Relations, 5(4), 112-116. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20220504.13

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ACS Style

Matthew Kingston Harris. Social Trust as a Predictor of Opinions on COVID-19 Response. J. Polit. Sci. Int. Relat. 2022, 5(4), 112-116. doi: 10.11648/j.jpsir.20220504.13

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Matthew Kingston Harris. Social Trust as a Predictor of Opinions on COVID-19 Response. J Polit Sci Int Relat. 2022;5(4):112-116. doi: 10.11648/j.jpsir.20220504.13

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.jpsir.20220504.13,
  author = {Matthew Kingston Harris},
  title = {Social Trust as a Predictor of Opinions on COVID-19 Response},
  journal = {Journal of Political Science and International Relations},
  volume = {5},
  number = {4},
  pages = {112-116},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jpsir.20220504.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20220504.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jpsir.20220504.13},
  abstract = {Social trust has been found to be an important factor in political participation, although this relationship may be dependent upon context. For instance, political views may be influenced by the groups with whom that trust is formed. Prior work has pointed to the importance of social trust in predicting behaviors related to COVID-19 as well as rates of transmission and containment. Leveraging data from the 2020 American National Election Study, the relationship between interpersonal trust and COVID-19 opinions in the United States is examined, specifically looking at views on state and federal COVID-19 responses, belief in vaccines and hydroxychloroquine, feelings towards Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the belief that COVID-19 was developed in a lab. In addition to Republicans and conservatives, as expected, being more skeptical of COVID-19 restrictions and treatments, interpersonal trust is found to be associated with attitudes that both might be expected to mitigate as well as exacerbate COIVD-19 transmission. Further, the effects of interpersonal trust on COVID-19 attitudes are shown to be filtered through a partisan lens, with differing effects of personal trust for Democratic and Republican party identifiers. Such findings add complexity to the role that social trust plays in political and social behaviors in the context of a pandemic.},
 year = {2022}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Social Trust as a Predictor of Opinions on COVID-19 Response
AU  - Matthew Kingston Harris
Y1  - 2022/10/18
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20220504.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.jpsir.20220504.13
T2  - Journal of Political Science and International Relations
JF  - Journal of Political Science and International Relations
JO  - Journal of Political Science and International Relations
SP  - 112
EP  - 116
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2640-2785
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20220504.13
AB  - Social trust has been found to be an important factor in political participation, although this relationship may be dependent upon context. For instance, political views may be influenced by the groups with whom that trust is formed. Prior work has pointed to the importance of social trust in predicting behaviors related to COVID-19 as well as rates of transmission and containment. Leveraging data from the 2020 American National Election Study, the relationship between interpersonal trust and COVID-19 opinions in the United States is examined, specifically looking at views on state and federal COVID-19 responses, belief in vaccines and hydroxychloroquine, feelings towards Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the belief that COVID-19 was developed in a lab. In addition to Republicans and conservatives, as expected, being more skeptical of COVID-19 restrictions and treatments, interpersonal trust is found to be associated with attitudes that both might be expected to mitigate as well as exacerbate COIVD-19 transmission. Further, the effects of interpersonal trust on COVID-19 attitudes are shown to be filtered through a partisan lens, with differing effects of personal trust for Democratic and Republican party identifiers. Such findings add complexity to the role that social trust plays in political and social behaviors in the context of a pandemic.
VL  - 5
IS  - 4
ER  -

Copy | Download