Not "My" crisis: Social identity and followers' crisis responses to COVID-19.

ABSTRACT: Operationalizing social group identification as political partisanship, we examine followers' (i.e., US residents') affective experiences and behavioral responses during the initial COVID-19 outbreak in the United States (March to May 2020). In Study 1, we conducted content analyses on major news outlets' coverage of COVID-19 (N = 4319) to examine media polarization and how it plays a role in shaping followers' perceptions of the pandemic and leadership. News outlets trusted by Republicans portrayed US President Donald Trump as more effective, conveyed a stronger sense of certainty with less negative affective tone, and had a lower emphasis on COVID-19 prevention compared to outlets trusted by Democrats. We then conducted a field survey study (Study 2; N = 214) and found that

SUBMITTER: Lau VW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9349868 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature