Who are the anti-maskers in croatia? A contribution to the research on the anti-masker reaction during the covid-19 disease pandemic in croatia

Abstract

Since the very beginning of the COVID-19 disease pandemic there have been alternative narratives, not only in virtual spaces, but also as part of official explanations given by social actors relevant for managing the pandemic crisis. As a reaction to the disease spread, authorities everywhere introduced quarantine measures, obligatory adherence to epidemiological measures, and economic lockdown, which led to protests against the measures in a number of cities worldwide, such as Berlin, London, Brussels, Dublin, Madrid, Paris, Rotter¬dam, even Zagreb (so-called anti-mask protests) during the summer and throughout the autumn and winter of 2020. In this paper, the notion of anti-mask attitude is viewed as a social phenomenon implying not only a mere fact of not wearing a mask as an act of violating epidemiological measures, but also the reaction of people during the pandemic. This reaction is comprised of the perception diminishing the danger of the SARS-CoV-2 virus or even denying its existence, along with the assessment that the imposed epidemiological measures are oppressive (too stringent). The theoretical framework of the paper is based on literature on conspiracy theories as an overarching concept that helps understand the anti-mask movements. In the analysis, the data gathered by a questionnaire survey (CATI technique) during August, September and October 2020 on a nationally representative sample (N=1512) were used. In the paper, some determinants of inclination towards conspiracy theories were analysed as possible explanatory determinants of the anti-masker social reaction. The analysis pointed to two aspects appearing as key for understanding the anti-masker social reaction – existential conditions and the changes of these conditions due to the pandemic, and trust in relevant social actors’ / institutions’ management of the COVID-19 disease induced crises.