Republicans wary of Republicans – how politics became a clue about infection risk during the pandemic

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Ahra Ko, University of Pennsylvania and Steven Neuberg, Arizona State University

(THE CONVERSATION) Americans who felt most vulnerable during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic perceived Republicans as infection risks, leading to greater disgust and avoidance of them – regardless of their own political party. Even Republicans who felt vulnerable became more wary of other Republicans. That’s one finding from research we recently published in the journal American Psychologist, and it has important implications for understanding a fundamental feature of human disease psychology.

Many Republican politicians and supporters, as compared to their Democratic counterparts, downplayed the threat of COVID-19 to public and personal health and resisted masking and social distancing. These attitudes and actions appear to have turned political affiliation into a new cue of possible infection risk.

This is an example of what scientists call the behavioral immune system at work.

Why it matters

Most people are familiar with the...