TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of race, religion, and partisanship in misperceptions about COVID-19
AU - Druckman, James N.
AU - Ognyanova, Katherine
AU - Baum, Matthew A.
AU - Lazer, David
AU - Perlis, Roy H.
AU - Volpe, John Della
AU - Santillana, Mauricio
AU - Chwe, Hanyu
AU - Quintana, Alexi
AU - Simonson, Matthew
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.
PY - 2021/6
Y1 - 2021/6
N2 - Concerns about misperceptions among the public are rampant. Yet, little work explores the correlates of misperceptions in varying contexts – that is, how do factors such as group affiliations, media exposure, and lived experiences correlate with the number of misperceptions people hold? We address these questions by investigating misperceptions about COVID-19, focusing on the role of racial/ethnic, religious, and partisan groups. Using a large survey, we find the number of correct beliefs held by individuals far dwarfs the number of misperceptions. When it comes to misperceptions, we find that minorities, those with high levels of religiosity, and those with strong partisan identities – across parties – hold a substantially greater number of misperceptions than those with contrasting group affiliations. Moreover, we show other variables (e.g., social media usage, number of COVID-19 cases in one’s county) do not have such strong relationships with misperceptions, and the group-level results do not reflect acquiescence to believing any information regardless of its truth value. Our results accentuate the importance of studying group-level misperceptions on other scientific and political issues and developing targeted interventions for these groups.
AB - Concerns about misperceptions among the public are rampant. Yet, little work explores the correlates of misperceptions in varying contexts – that is, how do factors such as group affiliations, media exposure, and lived experiences correlate with the number of misperceptions people hold? We address these questions by investigating misperceptions about COVID-19, focusing on the role of racial/ethnic, religious, and partisan groups. Using a large survey, we find the number of correct beliefs held by individuals far dwarfs the number of misperceptions. When it comes to misperceptions, we find that minorities, those with high levels of religiosity, and those with strong partisan identities – across parties – hold a substantially greater number of misperceptions than those with contrasting group affiliations. Moreover, we show other variables (e.g., social media usage, number of COVID-19 cases in one’s county) do not have such strong relationships with misperceptions, and the group-level results do not reflect acquiescence to believing any information regardless of its truth value. Our results accentuate the importance of studying group-level misperceptions on other scientific and political issues and developing targeted interventions for these groups.
KW - COVID-19
KW - misinformation
KW - misperceptions
KW - partisan social identity
KW - race
KW - religiosity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85107290049&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1368430220985912
DO - 10.1177/1368430220985912
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AN - SCOPUS:85107290049
SN - 1368-4302
VL - 24
SP - 638
EP - 657
JO - Group Processes and Intergroup Relations
JF - Group Processes and Intergroup Relations
IS - 4
ER -