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Vail KE, Harvell-Bowman L, Lockett M, Pyszczynski T, Gilmore G. Motivated reasoning: Election integrity beliefs, outcome acceptance, and polarization before, during, and after the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. MOTIVATION AND EMOTION 2023; 47:177-192. [PMID: 36188156 PMCID: PMC9513018 DOI: 10.1007/s11031-022-09983-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election required voters to not only form opinions of leading candidates, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, but also to make judgments about the integrity of the election itself and what-if anything-to do about it. However, partisan motivated reasoning theory (Leeper and Slothuus, Political Psychology, 35(Suppl 1): 129-156; Lodge and Taber, The rationalizing voter, Cambridge University Press, 2013) suggests judgments are often strongly influenced toward affectively desirable conclusions. Before, during, and after election projections were announced, partisan supporters of Trump and Biden rated: judgments about voter fraud and foreign interference, their acceptance of the results, and their support for recourse against the outcome (e.g., legal challenges, legislative overhauls, violence). Before the election, partisans were mildly concerned about election integrity but willing to accept the outcome without recourse. However, during vote counting, and especially after Biden was projected to be the winner, partisans dramatically changed their judgments in opposite directions, consistent with the affectively desirable conclusions relevant to each group. Biden supporters affirmed the election's integrity and accepted the results whereas Trump supporters disputed the integrity, rejected the results, and began to support recourse against the outcome. Data are consistent with partisan motivated reasoning. Discussion highlights the practical implications. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11031-022-09983-w.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth E. Vail
- Department of Psychology, Cleveland State University, 2121 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115 USA
| | | | - McKenzie Lockett
- University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, USA
| | - Tom Pyszczynski
- University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, USA
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Friehs MT, Kotzur PF, Kraus C, Schemmerling M, Herzig JA, Stanciu A, Dilly S, Hellert L, Hübner D, Rückwardt A, Ulizcay V, Christ O, Brambilla M, De keersmaecker J, Durante F, Gale J, Grigoryev D, Igou ER, Javakhishvili N, Kienmoser D, Nicolas G, Oldmeadow J, Rohmer O, Sætrevik B, Barbedor J, Bastias F, Bjørkheim SB, Bolatov A, Duran N, Findor A, Götz F, Graf S, Hakobjanyan A, Halkias G, Hancheva C, Hřebíčková M, Hruška M, Husnu S, Kadirov K, Khachatryan N, Macedo FG, Makashvili A, Martínez-Muñoz M, Mercadante E, Mesesan Schmitz L, Michael A, Mullabaeva N, Neto F, Neto J, Ozturk M, Paschenko S, Pietraszkiewicz A, Psaltis C, Qiu Y, Rupar M, Samekin A, Schmid K, Sczesny S, Sun Y, Svedholm-Häkkinen AM, Szymkow A, Teye-Kwadjo E, Torres CV, Vieira L, Yahiiaiev I, Yzerbyt V. Warmth and competence perceptions of key protagonists are associated with containment measures during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from 35 countries. Sci Rep 2022; 12:21277. [PMID: 36481750 PMCID: PMC9732048 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-25228-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2022] [Accepted: 11/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
It is crucial to understand why people comply with measures to contain viruses and their effects during pandemics. We provide evidence from 35 countries (Ntotal = 12,553) from 6 continents during the COVID-19 pandemic (between 2021 and 2022) obtained via cross-sectional surveys that the social perception of key protagonists on two basic dimensions-warmth and competence-plays a crucial role in shaping pandemic-related behaviors. Firstly, when asked in an open question format, heads of state, physicians, and protest movements were universally identified as key protagonists across countries. Secondly, multiple-group confirmatory factor analyses revealed that warmth and competence perceptions of these and other protagonists differed significantly within and between countries. Thirdly, internal meta-analyses showed that warmth and competence perceptions of heads of state, physicians, and protest movements were associated with support and opposition intentions, containment and prevention behaviors, as well as vaccination uptake. Our results have important implications for designing effective interventions to motivate desirable health outcomes and coping with future health crises and other global challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Patrick F. Kotzur
- grid.8250.f0000 0000 8700 0572Department of Psychology, Durham University, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE UK
| | - Christine Kraus
- grid.31730.360000 0001 1534 0348FernUniversität in Hagen, Hagen, Germany
| | | | - Jessica A. Herzig
- grid.31730.360000 0001 1534 0348FernUniversität in Hagen, Hagen, Germany
| | - Adrian Stanciu
- grid.425053.50000 0001 1013 1176GESIS Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Sebastian Dilly
- grid.31730.360000 0001 1534 0348FernUniversität in Hagen, Hagen, Germany
| | - Lisa Hellert
- grid.31730.360000 0001 1534 0348FernUniversität in Hagen, Hagen, Germany
| | - Doreen Hübner
- grid.31730.360000 0001 1534 0348FernUniversität in Hagen, Hagen, Germany
| | - Anja Rückwardt
- grid.31730.360000 0001 1534 0348FernUniversität in Hagen, Hagen, Germany
| | - Veruschka Ulizcay
- grid.31730.360000 0001 1534 0348FernUniversität in Hagen, Hagen, Germany
| | - Oliver Christ
- grid.31730.360000 0001 1534 0348FernUniversität in Hagen, Hagen, Germany
| | - Marco Brambilla
- grid.7563.70000 0001 2174 1754University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Federica Durante
- grid.7563.70000 0001 2174 1754University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Jessica Gale
- grid.21006.350000 0001 2179 4063University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | | | - Eric R. Igou
- grid.10049.3c0000 0004 1936 9692University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
| | | | - Doris Kienmoser
- grid.31730.360000 0001 1534 0348FernUniversität in Hagen, Hagen, Germany
| | - Gandalf Nicolas
- grid.430387.b0000 0004 1936 8796Rutgers University, New Brunswick, USA
| | - Julian Oldmeadow
- grid.1027.40000 0004 0409 2862Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Odile Rohmer
- grid.11843.3f0000 0001 2157 9291University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Bjørn Sætrevik
- grid.7914.b0000 0004 1936 7443University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Julien Barbedor
- grid.7942.80000 0001 2294 713XUniversité Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Franco Bastias
- grid.430658.c0000 0001 0695 6183Universidad Católica de Cuyo/National Scientific and Technical Research Council, San Juan, Argentina
| | | | - Aidos Bolatov
- grid.501850.90000 0004 0467 386XAstana Medical University, Astana, Kazakhstan
| | - Nazire Duran
- grid.8250.f0000 0000 8700 0572Department of Psychology, Durham University, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE UK
| | - Andrej Findor
- grid.7634.60000000109409708Comenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Friedrich Götz
- grid.17091.3e0000 0001 2288 9830The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Sylvie Graf
- grid.418095.10000 0001 1015 3316The Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czechia
| | - Anna Hakobjanyan
- grid.21072.360000 0004 0640 687XYerevan State University, Yerevan, Armenia
| | - Georgios Halkias
- grid.4655.20000 0004 0417 0154Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg, Denmark
| | - Camellia Hancheva
- grid.11355.330000 0001 2192 3275Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - Martina Hřebíčková
- grid.418095.10000 0001 1015 3316The Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czechia
| | - Matej Hruška
- grid.7634.60000000109409708Comenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Shenel Husnu
- grid.461270.60000 0004 0595 6570Eastern Mediterranean University, Famagusta, Cyprus
| | | | - Narine Khachatryan
- grid.21072.360000 0004 0640 687XYerevan State University, Yerevan, Armenia
| | | | - Ana Makashvili
- grid.428923.60000 0000 9489 2441Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
| | - Maylin Martínez-Muñoz
- grid.430658.c0000 0001 0695 6183Universidad Católica de Cuyo/National Scientific and Technical Research Council, San Juan, Argentina
| | - Eric Mercadante
- grid.17091.3e0000 0001 2288 9830The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | | | - Andreas Michael
- grid.6603.30000000121167908University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Nozima Mullabaeva
- grid.23471.330000 0001 0941 3766National University of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
| | - Félix Neto
- grid.5808.50000 0001 1503 7226University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Joana Neto
- grid.410919.40000 0001 2152 2367Universidade Portucalense, Porto, Portugal
| | - Merve Ozturk
- grid.8250.f0000 0000 8700 0572Department of Psychology, Durham University, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE UK
| | - Svitlana Paschenko
- grid.34555.320000 0004 0385 8248Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | | | - Charis Psaltis
- grid.6603.30000000121167908University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Yuting Qiu
- grid.8250.f0000 0000 8700 0572Department of Psychology, Durham University, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE UK
| | - Mirjana Rupar
- grid.418095.10000 0001 1015 3316The Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czechia ,grid.5522.00000 0001 2162 9631Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
| | - Adil Samekin
- grid.443540.20000 0004 0462 9607M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University, Astana, Kazakhstan
| | - Katharina Schmid
- grid.6162.30000 0001 2174 6723Esade, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sabine Sczesny
- grid.5734.50000 0001 0726 5157University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Yiwen Sun
- grid.8250.f0000 0000 8700 0572Department of Psychology, Durham University, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE UK
| | | | - Aleksandra Szymkow
- grid.433893.60000 0001 2184 0541SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, Poland
| | | | - Claudio V. Torres
- grid.7632.00000 0001 2238 5157University of Brasilia, Brasília, Brazil
| | - Luc Vieira
- grid.11843.3f0000 0001 2157 9291University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Illia Yahiiaiev
- grid.34555.320000 0004 0385 8248Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Vincent Yzerbyt
- grid.7942.80000 0001 2294 713XUniversité Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
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