When fear meets anger: Attitudes toward positively versus negatively evaluated pandemic policy proposals when negative emotions are competing in society

Abstract

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, citizens of many countries have been faced with health-related fear, as well as anti-establishment and anti-governmental anger. This emotional landscape colored the ongoing efforts by the authorities to convince citizens to accept various public policy proposals. In two studies (total N = 528, one preregistered) conducted in Poland in two different situations, we focused on the role of the simultaneously evoked pandemic fear and anti-government anger in shaping attitudes toward the pandemic regulations. For negatively evaluated proposals, both of these emotions worked in opposite directions: fear was associated with increasing support, while anger was associated with increasing rejection. However, for positively evaluated policy proposals, fear and anger worked in consonance, and both were associated with increasing acceptance of the proposed regulations. Thus, while fear seems to motivate the acceptance of even negatively evaluated proposals that are seen as protective ones, anger works to amplify or polarize the proposals’ basic evaluations. Our findings could help plan the implementation of public policies in societies in times of turbulent emotional landscapes.