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Science skepticism reduced compliance with COVID-19 shelter-in-place policies in the United States

Author

Listed:
  • Adam Brzezinski

    (University of Oxford
    Vienna University of Economics and Business)

  • Valentin Kecht

    (Bocconi University)

  • David Dijcke

    (University of Michigan
    University of Oxford)

  • Austin L. Wright

    (University of Chicago)

Abstract

Physical distancing reduces transmission risks and slows the spread of COVID-19. Yet compliance with shelter-in-place policies issued by local and regional governments in the United States was uneven and may have been influenced by science skepticism and attitudes towards topics of scientific consensus. Using county–day measures of physical distancing derived from cell phone location data, we demonstrate that the proportion of people who stayed at home after shelter-in-place policies went into effect in March and April 2020 in the United States was significantly lower in counties with a high concentration of science skeptics. These results are robust to controlling for other potential drivers of differential physical distancing, such as political partisanship, income, education and COVID severity. Our findings suggest that public health interventions that take local attitudes towards science into account in their messaging may be more effective.

Suggested Citation

  • Adam Brzezinski & Valentin Kecht & David Dijcke & Austin L. Wright, 2021. "Science skepticism reduced compliance with COVID-19 shelter-in-place policies in the United States," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(11), pages 1519-1527, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nathum:v:5:y:2021:i:11:d:10.1038_s41562-021-01227-0
    DOI: 10.1038/s41562-021-01227-0
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    Cited by:

    1. repec:jdm:journl:v:17:y:2022:i:4:p:849-882 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Bruno Arpino & Valeria Bordone & Giorgio Di Gessa, 2022. "Close kin influence COVID-19 precautionary behaviors and vaccine acceptance of older individuals," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2022_02, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    3. Floyd Jiuyun Zhang, 2023. "Political endorsement by Nature and trust in scientific expertise during COVID-19," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 7(5), pages 696-706, May.
    4. Luma Akil & Yalanda M. Barner & Anamika Bisht & Ebele Okoye & Hafiz Anwar Ahmad, 2022. "COVID-19 Incidence and Death Rates in the Southern Region of the United States: A Racial and Ethnic Association," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-19, October.
    5. Kun Sun & Tian-Fang Zhao & Xiao-Kun Wu & Kai-Sheng Lai & Wei-Neng Chen & Jin-Sheng Zhang, 2022. "Incorporating Fuzzy Cognitive Inference for Vaccine Hesitancy Measuring," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-18, July.
    6. repec:cup:judgdm:v:17:y:2022:i:4:p:849-882 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Haibo Qin & Zhongxuan Xie & Huping Shang & Yong Sun & Xiaohui Yang & Mengming Li, 2024. "The mass public’s science literacy and co-production during the COVID-19 pandemic: empirical evidence from 140 cities in China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, December.

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