Is the Messenger the Message? Canadian Political Affiliation and Other Predictors of Mask Wearing Frequency & Attitudes During the COVID-19 Pandemic

We used a longitudinal design to examine factors associated with Canadians' (1) early adoption of maskwearing and (2) attitudes toward mask mandates before mandatory mask mandates were issued. In May 2020, 1,712 Canadians began a 28-day daily diary study tracking their experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined the associations between people's political affiliation, psychological reactance, pre-existing risk factors, attitudes about the pandemic's severity, attitudes about mask mandates, and public mask-wearing frequency. Growth curve analyses indicated that, over time, Canadians' mask-wearing frequency and attitudes supporting mask mandates both increased. Those who perceived the pandemic as more serious had higher initial levels of both positive attitudes about mask mandates and mask-wearing frequency. Political affiliation was an important predictor of mask mandate attitudes, but only after May 20th, 2020: The first day Prime Minister Trudeau and Teresa Tam publicly stated they would be wearing masks in public. Subsequently, more liberally leaning participants reported more positive attitudes toward mask mandates compared to those with more conservative political views. These findings suggest the importance of cohesive, non-partisan messaging during a public health crisis to avoid political fractures in the uptake of recommended health behaviours. We provide recommendations for public health messengers toward improving voluntary compliance with public health measures, both during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Is the messenger the message? Canadian political affiliation and other predictors of mask wearing frequency & attitudes during the COVID-19 pandemic

We used a longitudinal design to examine factors associated with Canadians' (1) early adoption of mask-wearing and (2) attitudes toward mask mandates before mandatory mask mandates were issued. In May 2020, 1,712 Canadians began a 28-day daily diary study tracking their experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined the associations between people's political affiliation, psychological reactance, pre-existing risk factors, attitudes about the pandemic's severity, attitudes about mask mandates, and public mask-wearing frequency. Growth curve analyses indicated that, over time, Canadians' mask-wearing frequency and attitudes supporting mask mandates both increased. Those who perceived the pandemic as more serious had higher initial levels of both positive attitudes about mask mandates and mask-wearing frequency. Political affiliation was an important predictor of mask mandate attitudes, but only after May 20th, 2020: The first day Prime Minister Trudeau and Teresa Tam publicly stated they would be wearing masks in public. Subsequently, more liberally leaning participants reported more positive attitudes toward mask mandates compared to those with more conservative political views. These findings suggest the importance of cohesive, non-partisan messaging during a public health crisis to avoid political fractures in the uptake of recommended health behaviours. We provide recommendations for public health messengers toward improving voluntary compliance with public health measures, both during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) Abstract (French) Nous avons utilise une conception longitudinale pour examiner les facteurs associes a (1) l'adoption precoce du port de masque par les Canadiens et (2) les attitudes envers les mandats de port de masque avant que les mandats de port de masque obligatoires ne soient lances. En mai 2020, 1 712 Canadiens ont entrepris une etude de journal quotidien de 28 jours suivant leurs experiences avec la pandemie de COVID-19. Nous avons examine les associations entre l'affiliation politique des personnes, la reactivite psychologique, les facteurs de risque preexistants, les attitudes sur la gravite de la pandemie, les attitudes sur les mandats de port de masque et la frequence du port de masque en public. Les analyses des courbes de croissance ont indique qu'au fil du temps, la frequence du port du masque et les attitudes en faveur du port du masque ont augmente. Ceux qui percevaient la pandemie comme etant plus grave avaient des niveaux initiaux plus eleves d'attitudes positives a l'egard des mandats de port de masque et de frequence de port de masque. L'affiliation politique etait un predicteur important des attitudes a l'egard du mandat de port de masque, mais seulement apres le 20 mai 2020 : le premier jour ou le premier ministre Trudeau et Teresa Tam ont declare publiquement qu'ils porteraient des masques en public. Par la suite, les participants aux tendances plus liberales ont fait etat d'attitudes plus positives a l'egard des mandats de port de masque que ceux aux opinions politiques plus conservatrices. Ces resultats suggerent l'importance d'un message cohesif et non partisan pendant une crise de sante publique afin d'eviter les fractures politiques dans l'adoption des comportements de sante recommandes. Nous formulons des recommandations a l'intention des messagers de la sante publique en vue d'ameliorer le respect volontaire des mesures de sante publique, pendant et apres la pandemie de COVID-19. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) Impact Statement <strong xmlns:lang="en">Public Significance Statement-We examined predictors of Canadian's face mask wearing frequency and attitudes toward mask mandates in May-July of 2020, before face mask policies were widely supported across the country. Overall, people who perceived greater risk to themselves in relation to the virus (older people, people who viewed the pandemic as a serious situation, people with pre-existing health conditions), people who identified as politically liberal, and racialized people were more likely to report greater mask wearing frequency and endorsement of mask mandates. Political affiliation was an important predictor of mask mandate attitudes, but only after May 20th, 2020: The day Prime Minister Trudeau and Teresa Tam publicly stated they would be wearing masks in public;subsequently, more liberally leaning participants reported more positive attitudes towards mask mandates compared to those with more conservative political views. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)