How Personally Relevant Cases of COVID-19 Influence Individuals’ Level of Concern towards the Virus
Penn collection
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COVID-19
Regression
Personally Relevant
Community
American Politics
Applied Ethics
Behavioral Economics
Economic Policy
Economics
Education Policy
Energy Policy
Environmental Policy
Ethics and Political Philosophy
Experimental Analysis of Behavior
Health Policy
International Economics
International Relations
Philosophy
Political Science
Political Theory
Psychology
Public Policy
Social Policy
Social Psychology
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Abstract
This paper presents the findings of a statistical analysis exploring the ways in which personally relevant cases of COVID-19 influence an individual's level of concern towards the virus. The analysis makes use of public opinion data collected throughout the pandemic by a market research company called Ipsos. This study conducts an OLS regression analysis using three different samples of data from three distinct periods of time during the pandemic. The paper addresses each component of the study's deductive approach, outlining everything from the initial hypothesis to the conclusions and broader implications. Ultimately, this study does show evidence that an individual's personal experience with COVID-19 influences their attitudes towards the virus. This is consistent with the findings of previous psychological research that has explored how personally salient information affects humans' attitudes and beliefs.