The Psychological Burden of the COVID-19 Pandemic Is Associated With Antisystemic Attitudes and Political Violence

Henrikas Bartusevičius; Alexander Bor; Frederik Jørgensen; Michael Bang Petersen

doi:10.1177/09567976211031847

The Psychological Burden of the COVID-19 Pandemic Is Associated With Antisystemic Attitudes and Political Violence

Henrikas Bartusevičius^*, Alexander Bor, Frederik Jørgensen, Michael Bang Petersen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Political Science

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

40 Citations (Scopus)

105 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

What are the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for people's political attitudes and behavior? We tested, specifically, whether the psychological burden of the COVID-19 pandemic relates to antisystemic attitudes (dissatisfaction with the fundamental social and political order), peaceful political activism, and political violence. Nationally representative two-wave panel data were collected via online surveys of adults in the United States, Denmark, Italy, and Hungary (ns = 6,131 and 4,568 in Waves 1 and 2, respectively). Overall, levels of antisystemic attitudes were low, and only a small share of interviewees reported behavioral intentions to participate in and actual participation in political violence. However, preregistered analyses indicated that perceived COVID-19 burden was associated with antisystemic attitudes and intentions to engage in political violence. In the United States, the burden of COVID-19 was also associated with self-reported engagement in violence surrounding the Black Lives Matter protests and counterprotests. We found less robust evidence that perceived COVID-19 burden was associated with peaceful activism.

Original language	English
Journal	Psychological Science
Volume	32
Issue	9
Pages (from-to)	1391-1403
Number of pages	13
ISSN	0956-7976
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976211031847
Publication status	Published - Sept 2021

Keywords

Black Lives Matter
COVID-19
antisystemic attitudes
open data
open materials
police brutality
political activism
political violence
preregistered
protest

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10.1177/09567976211031847Licence: CC BY

The Psychological Burden of the COVID-19 Pandemic..._Final Version_2021Final published version, 338 KBLicence: CC BY

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title = "The Psychological Burden of the COVID-19 Pandemic Is Associated With Antisystemic Attitudes and Political Violence",

abstract = "What are the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for people's political attitudes and behavior? We tested, specifically, whether the psychological burden of the COVID-19 pandemic relates to antisystemic attitudes (dissatisfaction with the fundamental social and political order), peaceful political activism, and political violence. Nationally representative two-wave panel data were collected via online surveys of adults in the United States, Denmark, Italy, and Hungary (ns = 6,131 and 4,568 in Waves 1 and 2, respectively). Overall, levels of antisystemic attitudes were low, and only a small share of interviewees reported behavioral intentions to participate in and actual participation in political violence. However, preregistered analyses indicated that perceived COVID-19 burden was associated with antisystemic attitudes and intentions to engage in political violence. In the United States, the burden of COVID-19 was also associated with self-reported engagement in violence surrounding the Black Lives Matter protests and counterprotests. We found less robust evidence that perceived COVID-19 burden was associated with peaceful activism.",

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The Psychological Burden of the COVID-19 Pandemic Is Associated With Antisystemic Attitudes and Political Violence. / Bartusevičius, Henrikas; Bor, Alexander; Jørgensen, Frederik et al.
In: Psychological Science, Vol. 32, No. 9, 09.2021, p. 1391-1403.

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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The Psychological Burden of the COVID-19 Pandemic Is Associated With Antisystemic Attitudes and Political Violence

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