When Ideology Matters More – Science and Vaccine Scepticism in Light of Political Ideologies and Partisanship during the Third COVID-19 Wave in Hungary1

Q2 Social Sciences
E. Farkas, Balázs Böcskei, Andrea Szabó
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引用次数: 1

Abstract

Abstract As for the mitigation of the negative consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and the related crisis, governments should inter alia facilitate the willingness to vaccinate. However, related discussions became politicised, especially in countries with an extremely high level of partisan polarisation in opinions and media discourses, like in Hungary, which is the selected case of our study. As previous research about the United States shows, general trust in science is also influenced by the ideological alignment of individuals – people with conservative identification are more likely to question scientific results and recommendations, considering global warming, or the characteristics of the pandemic and the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. In our study we examine two main questions: first, whether the ideological orientation and partisan alignment of Hungarian citizens influence their general trust in science, and second, whether the same factors influence their opinion on scientists’ ability to develop effective vaccines against the coronavirus. Furthermore, we also investigate whether media consumption habits might influence these interrelations. According to the results of the representative online survey, the more conservative someone in Hungary identifies, the more likely they will be sceptical in terms of both questions. However, support of government or opposition parties does not determine whether they believe in the ability of scientists to develop effective vaccines, and it is influenced by their media consumption habits. We showed that (1) opposition supporters are much more different along their preferred media source than government supporters, (2) television watchers are of the same opinion independent of their party preference and (3) social media consumers are generally more likely to reject scientific results. The phenomenon that supporters of the conservative government and of the alliance of opposition parties are different in terms of their media consumption is a surprising finding in the polarised Hungarian context. We provide two main explanations for this. First, it is most probably the consequence of the government’s intensive campaign that encouraged vaccination. Second, the government used the issue of vaccination as a source of legitimacy regarding the effectiveness of their crisis management.
当意识形态更重要时——匈牙利第三波COVID-19期间政治意识形态和党派关系下的科学和疫苗怀疑主义
摘要关于缓解冠状病毒大流行和相关危机的负面后果,政府应特别促进接种疫苗的意愿。然而,相关的讨论变得政治化了,尤其是在意见和媒体话语中党派两极分化程度极高的国家,比如匈牙利,这是我们研究的选定案例。正如之前对美国的研究所表明的那样,人们对科学的普遍信任也受到个人意识形态一致性的影响——考虑到全球变暖、大流行的特征和新冠肺炎疫苗的有效性,具有保守身份的人更有可能质疑科学结果和建议。在我们的研究中,我们考察了两个主要问题:第一,匈牙利公民的意识形态取向和党派结盟是否影响他们对科学的普遍信任,第二,同样的因素是否影响他们对于科学家开发有效冠状病毒疫苗的能力的看法。此外,我们还调查了媒体消费习惯是否会影响这些相互关系。根据这项具有代表性的在线调查的结果,匈牙利人越是保守,他们就越有可能对这两个问题持怀疑态度。然而,政府或反对党的支持并不能决定他们是否相信科学家开发有效疫苗的能力,这受到他们媒体消费习惯的影响。我们发现,(1)反对派支持者在他们喜欢的媒体来源上与政府支持者的差异要大得多,(2)电视观众的意见与他们的政党偏好无关,(3)社交媒体消费者通常更容易拒绝科学结果。在两极分化的匈牙利背景下,保守党政府和反对党联盟的支持者在媒体消费方面存在差异,这是一个令人惊讶的现象。我们对此提供两个主要解释。首先,这很可能是政府鼓励接种疫苗的密集运动的结果。其次,政府利用疫苗接种问题作为其危机管理有效性的合法性来源。
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来源期刊
Politics in Central Europe
Politics in Central Europe Social Sciences-Political Science and International Relations
CiteScore
1.20
自引率
0.00%
发文量
20
审稿时长
20 weeks
期刊介绍: POLITICS IN CENTRAL EUROPE – The Journal of the Central European Political Science Association is an independent and internationally peer-reviewed scientific journal in political science and international relations. The Journal was established in 2005 as the scientific review that publishes scientific essays, book reviews and information about conferences and other events connected with Central European issues. POLITICS IN CENTRAL EUROPE publishes politics, policy analysis, international relations and other sub-disciplines of political original, peer-reviewed manuscripts that provide scientific essays focusing on issues in comparative science, as well as original theoretical or conceptual analyses. All essays must contribute to a broad understanding of the region of Central Europe. Our goal is to give scholars from Central Europe and beyond the opportunity to present the results of their research.
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