Political partisanship influences behavioral responses to governors' recommendations for COVID-19 prevention in the United States.

ABSTRACT: Voluntary physical distancing is essential for preventing the spread of COVID-19. We assessed the role of political partisanship in individuals' compliance with physical distancing recommendations of political leaders using data on mobility from a sample of mobile phones in 3,100 counties in the United States during March 2020, county-level partisan preferences, information about the political affiliation of state governors, and the timing of their communications about COVID-19 prevention. Regression analyses examined how political preferences influenced the association between governors' COVID-19 communications and residents' mobility patterns. Governors' recommendations for residents to stay at home preceded stay-at-home orders and led to a significant reduction in mobility that was comp

SUBMITTER: Grossman G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7533884 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature