COVID-19-related anxieties do not decrease support for liberal democracy.

ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread fear among the population. Early studies suggested that this resulted in exclusionary attitudes and increased support for discriminatory policy measures. We still lack an understanding of the longer-term, potentially erosive consequences that COVID-19-specific anxieties may carry for citizens' commitment to liberal democratic norms. In this research note, we present evidence from an original experiment in which we manipulate individuals' cognitive accessibility of their fears related to COVID-19. We implemented this experiment in Hungary and Romania - two cases where illiberal attitudes are most likely to amplify under conditions of fear - a year and a half after the outbreak of the pandemic. The results show that our intervention is successful in el

SUBMITTER: Anghel V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9537904 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature