scholarly journals The effects of corrective information about disease epidemics and outbreaks: Evidence from Zika and yellow fever in Brazil

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. eaaw7449 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. Carey ◽  
Victoria Chi ◽  
D. J. Flynn ◽  
Brendan Nyhan ◽  
Thomas Zeitzoff
Keyword(s):  
Vector Control ◽  
Yellow Fever ◽  
Preventive Behavior ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Control Policies ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Survey Experiments ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Disease Epidemics ◽  
Corrective Information

Disease epidemics and outbreaks often generate conspiracy theories and misperceptions that mislead people about the risks they face and how best to protect themselves. We investigate the effectiveness of interventions aimed at combating false and unsupported information about the Zika epidemic and subsequent yellow fever outbreak in Brazil. Results from a nationally representative survey show that conspiracy theories and other misperceptions about Zika are widely believed. Moreover, results from three preregistered survey experiments suggest that efforts to counter misperceptions about diseases during epidemics and outbreaks may not always be effective. We find that corrective information not only fails to reduce targeted Zika misperceptions but also reduces the accuracy of other beliefs about the disease. In addition, although corrective information about the better-known threat from yellow fever was more effective, none of these corrections affected support for vector control policies or intentions to engage in preventive behavior.

scholarly journals Traumatic rift: How conspiracy beliefs undermine cohesion after societal trauma?

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Bilewicz ◽  
Marta Witkowska ◽  
Myrto Pantazi ◽  
Theofilos Gkinopoulos ◽  
Olivier Klein
Keyword(s):  
Military Officers ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Airplane Crash ◽  
Internal Conflicts ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Societal Trauma ◽  
Conspiracy Thinking

Collective traumas may often lead to deep societal divides and internal conflicts. In this article, we propose that conspiracy theories emerging in response to victimizing events may play a key role in the breakdown of social cohesion. We performed a nationally representative survey in Poland (N = 965) two years after the Smoleńsk airplane crash in which the Polish president was killed, together with 95 political officials and high-ranking military officers. The survey found that people endorsing conspiratorial accounts of the Smoleńsk catastrophe preferred to distance themselves from conspiracy non-believers, while skeptics preferred greater distance to conspiracy believers. We also examined the role of people’s belief in the uniqueness of in-group historical suffering as an important antecedent of both conspiracy thinking and hostility towards outgroups (conspiracy believers and non-believers).

scholarly journals American Voters Do Punish Overt Undemocratic Behavior at the Polls: Natural Experimental Evidence from the 2021 Insurrection of the U.S. Capitol

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam van Noort
Keyword(s):  
Republican Party ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Natural Experiment ◽  
Vote Choice ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Random Digit Dialing ◽  
Random Digit ◽  
Survey Experiments ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
The U.S

Existing research suggests that overt undemocratic behavior by elected officials is insufficiently punished by American voters to electorally discourage democratic backsliding. Evidence for this proposition comes primarily from hypothetical survey experiments with relatively weak treatments. I test this hypothesis using a natural experiment with a powerful treatment: Donald Trump's incitement of the insurrection of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The insurrection was unexpected to the general public, did not coincide with other events that could plausibly affect public opinion, and occurred while Gallup was conducting a nationally representative survey using random digit dialing. Comparing vote choice intention among respondents that were interviewed just before, and just after, the insurrection occurred suggests that the insurrection caused a 10.8% decline in support for the Republican Party, and an 8.4% increase in support for the Democratic Party. Politicians interested in winning elections have strong incentives to avoid insurrection-like events from occurring.

Workplace “Digital Culture” and the Uptake of Digital Solutions

2020 ◽  
pp. 368-402
Author(s):  
Simeon J. Yates ◽  
Eleanor Lockley
Keyword(s):  
Technology Acceptance ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Digital Culture ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Company Culture ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
The Uk

This chapter reviews prior work on technology acceptance and then reports on a nationally representative survey of UK employees exploring both employee’s personal experiences of digital technologies at home and work and their evaluations of the effectiveness of the technologies and the “digital culture” in their organization. Presenting the results of 3040 UK workers, it seeks to explore the factors that influence digital roll-outs by focusing on the experiences and perceptions of the UK workforce as a whole, with the expectation that introducing new technology alone isn’t enough. This research explores how “digitally ready” organizations are in the UK in terms of people, processes, and company culture. It concludes that a large proportion of the UK workforce are not seeing the benefits of digital technologies. Importantly, there is a need for organizations to understand that making digital solutions a success is a process of cultural change in their organization.

Corruption, Opportunity Networks, and Gender

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Wiesehomeier ◽  
Tània Verge
Keyword(s):  
Conjoint Analysis ◽  
Unethical Behavior ◽  
Gender Stereotype ◽  
Women In Politics ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Business Interests ◽  
Female Politicians ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
And Gender

Abstract Given the gender stereotype that women are more ethical than men, people should assess female politicians as being less corruptible. Yet information about access to networks suggests that opportunities to engage in unethical behavior may counter this perception. Using a conjoint analysis in a nationally representative survey in Spain, a country shaken by corruption scandals, we asked respondents to identify the more corruptible politician between two hypothetical local councilors by imagining an investor willing to offer a bribe to advance business interests. Results indicate that female politicians do symbolically stand for honesty. However, this assessment is offset by embeddedness cues signaling a woman politician’s access to opportunity networks. We discuss our findings in light of instrumentalist arguments for an increase of women in politics as a means to combat corruption.

scholarly journals When Helping Hurts: Nonabusing Family, Friends, and Neighbors in the Lives of Elder Mistreatment Victims

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 628-628
Author(s):  
Risa Breckman ◽  
David Burnes ◽  
Sarah Ross ◽  
Philip Marshall ◽  
J Jill Suitor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Elder Abuse ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Elder Mistreatment ◽  
Professional Help ◽  
Nationally Representative

Abstract Research conducted by the NYC Elder Abuse Center (NYCEAC) at Weill Cornell Medicine and colleagues found that concerned persons experience significant distress knowing about elder abuse and trying to assist victims. Data will be presented from a nationally representative survey which included items on concerned persons in elder abuse. Thirty-one percent of all respondents reported that they had a relative or friend who experienced elder abuse; of these, 61% had attempted to help the victim and over 80% reported the experience is very or extremely stressful (2017). By both knowing about and becoming involved in elder abuse situations, concerned persons experience significant emotional and practical problems and often need professional help. NYCEAC’s Elder Abuse Helpline for Concerned Persons is the first of its kind in the country. The Helpline’s services and structure will be explained, and possibilities for replication in other locations will be explored.

scholarly journals Correcting Citizens’ Misperceptions about non-Western Immigrants: Corrective Information, Interpretations, and Policy Opinions

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederik Juhl Jørgensen ◽  
Mathias Osmundsen
Keyword(s):  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Total Population ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Correct Information ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Large Scale Survey ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Information Change ◽  
Corrective Information

Abstract Can corrective information change citizens’ misperceptions about immigrants and subsequently lead to favorable immigration opinions? While prior studies from the USA document how corrections about the size of minority populations fail to change citizens’ immigration-related opinions, they do not examine how other facts that speak to immigrants’ cultural or economic dependency rates can influence immigration policy opinions. To extend earlier work, we conducted a large-scale survey experiment fielded to a nationally representative sample of Danes. We randomly expose participants to information about non-Western immigrants’ (1) welfare dependency rate, (2) crime rate, and (3) proportion of the total population. We find that participants update their factual beliefs in light of correct information, but reinterpret the information in a highly selective fashion, ultimately failing to change their policy preferences.

Are misinformation, antiscientific claims, and conspiracy theories for political extremists?

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 583-605
Author(s):  
Adam M. Enders ◽  
Joseph E. Uscinski
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Political Orientations ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs ◽  
Political Left ◽  
Identity Based ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Political Groups ◽  
Representative Samples

Extremist political groups, especially “extreme” Republicans and conservatives, are increasingly charged with believing misinformation, antiscientific claims, and conspiracy theories to a greater extent than moderates and those on the political left by both a burgeoning scholarly literature and popular press accounts. However, previous investigations of the relationship between political orientations and alternative beliefs have been limited in their operationalization of those beliefs and political extremity. We build on existing literature by examining the relationships between partisan and nonpartisan conspiracy beliefs and symbolic and operational forms of political extremity. Using two large, nationally representative samples of Americans, we find that ideological extremity predicts alternative beliefs only when the beliefs in question are partisan in nature and the measure of ideology is identity-based. Moreover, we find that operational ideological extremism is negatively related to nonpartisan conspiracy beliefs. Our findings help reconcile discrepant findings regarding the relationship between political orientations and conspiracy beliefs.

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