Investigating how individuals respond to efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ontario: associations with political ideology and perceived stress

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has required individuals to adopt new attitudes and behaviours that promote public health, such as mask wearing, social distancing and vaccination. The current research sought to understanding the factors that influence attitudes and behaviours related to these responses by investigating the association of political ideology and perceived stress on attitudes and behaviours towards COVID-19 in Northern Ontario. Overall, a right-leaning or conservative/libertarian political ideology was associated with decreased support of government measures towards COVID-19, lower levels of perceived concern over COVID-19, and less favorable attitudes and reduced uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine. Additionally, while perceived stress was not found to be related to political ideology, moderate stress was found to be associated with lower levels of perceived severity and concern about COVID-19, and less favorable attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine. Implications of the current study are useful for understanding reactions to future pandemics and public health crises.