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. 2021 May:277:113884.
doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113884. Epub 2021 Mar 29.

How information about race-based health disparities affects policy preferences: Evidence from a survey experiment about the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

Allison Harell  1 , Evan Lieberman  2
Affiliations

How information about race-based health disparities affects policy preferences: Evidence from a survey experiment about the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

Allison Harell et al. Soc Sci Med. 2021 May.

Abstract

In this article, we report on the results of an experimental study to estimate the effects of delivering information about racial disparities in COVID-19-related death rates. On the one hand, we find that such information led to increased perception of risk among those Black respondents who lacked prior knowledge; and to increased support for a more concerted public health response among those White respondents who expressed favorable views towards Blacks at baseline. On the other hand, for Whites with colder views towards Blacks, the informational treatment had the opposite effect: it led to decreased risk perception and to lower levels of support for an aggressive response. Our findings highlight that well-intentioned public health campaigns spotlighting disparities might have adverse side effects and those ought to be considered as part of a broader strategy. The study contributes to a larger scholarly literature on the challenges of making and implementing social policy in racially-divided societies.

Keywords: COVID-19; Health policy; Health politics; Race; Racial prejudice; Risk perception; Social policy.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Experimental treatment: Information about racial disparities in COVID-19-related deaths.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Respondent Estimates of Death Rates. Triangles (Circles) represent Black (White) respondents; Responses in Red (Blue) are classified as Under- (Correct) Estimators.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Marginal effect of disparity information on risk perception among Blacks moderated by prior knowledge.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Marginal effect of disparity information on risk perception among Whites moderated by racial affect.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Marginal Effects of Disparity Information on White Respondent Policy Preferences, Moderated by Black Affect (Under-Estimators Only).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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