Partisan differences in risk-taking in a simulated pandemic

Responses to COVID-19 in the United States were split along partisan political lines throughout the pandemic. People on the political left tended to take the medical threat more seriously and were more likely to adopt preventive health behaviors than those on the political right, resulting in clear...

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Autores: Woike, J.K. (Jan K.)|||/items/722f6cfa-fe7f-4e4f-b0a5-5a9be56eb6b4, Hafenbrädl, S. (Sebastian)|||/items/6c34dd6b-4848-4c31-9e36-4aa3609f3fdf, Kanngiesser, P. (Patricia)|||/items/07390d7a-3d15-463f-8772-2bb8c261707d, Hertwig, R. (Raplh)|||/items/aeec36bd-8d9f-4f97-a340-18640082df0c
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2026
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Navarra
Repositorio:Dadun. Depósito Académico Digital de la Universidad de Navarra
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:dadun_______::70dd6cc38bc86fa063ffddfc74503a49
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10171/124143
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:COVID-19
Decision-making
Normative intervention
Partisan polarization
Social dilemma
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spelling Partisan differences in risk-taking in a simulated pandemicWoike, J.K. (Jan K.)|||/items/722f6cfa-fe7f-4e4f-b0a5-5a9be56eb6b4Hafenbrädl, S. (Sebastian)|||/items/6c34dd6b-4848-4c31-9e36-4aa3609f3fdfKanngiesser, P. (Patricia)|||/items/07390d7a-3d15-463f-8772-2bb8c261707dHertwig, R. (Raplh)|||/items/aeec36bd-8d9f-4f97-a340-18640082df0cCOVID-19Decision-makingNormative interventionPartisan polarizationSocial dilemmaResponses to COVID-19 in the United States were split along partisan political lines throughout the pandemic. People on the political left tended to take the medical threat more seriously and were more likely to adopt preventive health behaviors than those on the political right, resulting in clear differences in state-level policies and health consequences. Here, we examine the origins of these differences, investigating whether they are based on interindividual differences or in party dynamics. Two groups of participants (N=819), who had voted either for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton in 2016, played the Transmission Game. Players made repeated decisions in a simulated pandemic that involved a trade-off between increasing their expected personal payoff and reducing the chance of a total payoff-loss for themselves and others. In four experimental conditions, the study framing (neutral or pandemic) was crossed with the presence (or absence) of a normative intervention aimed at reducing risk-taking. We observed systematic partisan differences in all conditions, with Republicans taking more risk than Democrats, even in neutrally framed conditions—supporting the idea of interindividual differences between voter groups beyond party dynamics. At the same time, both normative interventions and the pandemic framing reduced risk-taking and expected infection rates in both voter groups. Moreover, we examined individual predictors of risk-taking and demonstrated that game behavior, conservatism, and psychological reactance predict intentions to adopt preventive health behaviors outside the laboratory. We discuss implications for the framing of studies conducted during ongoing crises and lessons for future pandemic preparedness.WileyDadun. Depósito Académico Digital Universidad de Navarra20262026-03-2620262026-03-26journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/10171/124143reponame:Dadun. Depósito Académico Digital de la Universidad de Navarrainstname:Universidad de NavarraInglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:dnet:dadun_______::70dd6cc38bc86fa063ffddfc74503a492026-06-21T12:47:57Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Partisan differences in risk-taking in a simulated pandemic
title Partisan differences in risk-taking in a simulated pandemic
spellingShingle Partisan differences in risk-taking in a simulated pandemic
Woike, J.K. (Jan K.)|||/items/722f6cfa-fe7f-4e4f-b0a5-5a9be56eb6b4
COVID-19
Decision-making
Normative intervention
Partisan polarization
Social dilemma
title_short Partisan differences in risk-taking in a simulated pandemic
title_full Partisan differences in risk-taking in a simulated pandemic
title_fullStr Partisan differences in risk-taking in a simulated pandemic
title_full_unstemmed Partisan differences in risk-taking in a simulated pandemic
title_sort Partisan differences in risk-taking in a simulated pandemic
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Woike, J.K. (Jan K.)|||/items/722f6cfa-fe7f-4e4f-b0a5-5a9be56eb6b4
Hafenbrädl, S. (Sebastian)|||/items/6c34dd6b-4848-4c31-9e36-4aa3609f3fdf
Kanngiesser, P. (Patricia)|||/items/07390d7a-3d15-463f-8772-2bb8c261707d
Hertwig, R. (Raplh)|||/items/aeec36bd-8d9f-4f97-a340-18640082df0c
author Woike, J.K. (Jan K.)|||/items/722f6cfa-fe7f-4e4f-b0a5-5a9be56eb6b4
author_facet Woike, J.K. (Jan K.)|||/items/722f6cfa-fe7f-4e4f-b0a5-5a9be56eb6b4
Hafenbrädl, S. (Sebastian)|||/items/6c34dd6b-4848-4c31-9e36-4aa3609f3fdf
Kanngiesser, P. (Patricia)|||/items/07390d7a-3d15-463f-8772-2bb8c261707d
Hertwig, R. (Raplh)|||/items/aeec36bd-8d9f-4f97-a340-18640082df0c
author_role author
author2 Hafenbrädl, S. (Sebastian)|||/items/6c34dd6b-4848-4c31-9e36-4aa3609f3fdf
Kanngiesser, P. (Patricia)|||/items/07390d7a-3d15-463f-8772-2bb8c261707d
Hertwig, R. (Raplh)|||/items/aeec36bd-8d9f-4f97-a340-18640082df0c
author2_role author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Dadun. Depósito Académico Digital Universidad de Navarra
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv COVID-19
Decision-making
Normative intervention
Partisan polarization
Social dilemma
topic COVID-19
Decision-making
Normative intervention
Partisan polarization
Social dilemma
description Responses to COVID-19 in the United States were split along partisan political lines throughout the pandemic. People on the political left tended to take the medical threat more seriously and were more likely to adopt preventive health behaviors than those on the political right, resulting in clear differences in state-level policies and health consequences. Here, we examine the origins of these differences, investigating whether they are based on interindividual differences or in party dynamics. Two groups of participants (N=819), who had voted either for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton in 2016, played the Transmission Game. Players made repeated decisions in a simulated pandemic that involved a trade-off between increasing their expected personal payoff and reducing the chance of a total payoff-loss for themselves and others. In four experimental conditions, the study framing (neutral or pandemic) was crossed with the presence (or absence) of a normative intervention aimed at reducing risk-taking. We observed systematic partisan differences in all conditions, with Republicans taking more risk than Democrats, even in neutrally framed conditions—supporting the idea of interindividual differences between voter groups beyond party dynamics. At the same time, both normative interventions and the pandemic framing reduced risk-taking and expected infection rates in both voter groups. Moreover, we examined individual predictors of risk-taking and demonstrated that game behavior, conservatism, and psychological reactance predict intentions to adopt preventive health behaviors outside the laboratory. We discuss implications for the framing of studies conducted during ongoing crises and lessons for future pandemic preparedness.
publishDate 2026
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2026
2026-03-26
2026
2026-03-26
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv journal article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/10171/124143
url https://hdl.handle.net/10171/124143
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Wiley
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Wiley
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Dadun. Depósito Académico Digital de la Universidad de Navarra
instname:Universidad de Navarra
instname_str Universidad de Navarra
reponame_str Dadun. Depósito Académico Digital de la Universidad de Navarra
collection Dadun. Depósito Académico Digital de la Universidad de Navarra
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