Beyond party lines: the roles of compassionate goals, affect heuristic, and risk perception on Americans’ support for coronavirus response measures

Abstract

Employing a nationally representative sample (N = 1009), this research examines Americans’ support for coronavirus response measures influenced by three psychological factors—compassionate goals, affect heuristic, and risk perception. Results indicate that Republicans, Independents, and Democrats are equally prone to experiencing compassionate goals. Further, two socially oriented emotions (solidarity and sympathy) and risk perception mediate the relationship between compassionate goals and support for government response measures, but only the emotions mediate the relationship between compassionate goals and donation intention. Since compassionate goals promote cooperative behaviors, effective communication messaging highlighting compassionate goals may help alleviate political polarization during crises.