Roman Catholic Religious Affiliation and Reactions to the Initial Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Poland

Abstract

The present study examined responses to COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic, April 2020, among a representative sample of 880 Poles. Participants described their religious beliefs, their emotional reactions to the pandemic, the changes they had made in their behavior since the onset of the pandemic, and their political orientation (left-right). Roman Catholics felt more threatened by the pandemic than non-believers, and Catholics reacted more strongly to the pandemic than non-believers in terms of feeling scared, paralyzed by fear, panicked, fearful, sad, woebegone, and lost, whereas there were no such differences on other emotional reactions. Compared to non-believers, Catholics changed their behavior to be more compliant with public health guidelines and changed some behaviors that were not recommended by public health officials but were popular (e.g., stocking up on food and on cleaning products). There were however, no differences between the two groups in terms of wearing masks, limiting leaving home, and avoiding contact with those who were ill. Catholics had weaker intentions to get vaccinated than non-believers. Catholics' political orientation was more right-wing than non-believers' orientation, and the difference in vaccination intentions between Catholics and non-believers disappeared after controlling for differences in political orientation. Controlling for political orientation did not change the results of the analyses of emotional reactions and behavioral changes.

Keywords: COVID-19; Catholicism; Pandemic; Political orientation; Psychological distress; Religiosity; Vaccine hesitancy.