Unexpected, but consistent and pre-registered: Experimental evidence on interview language and Latino views of COVID-19

Much uncertainty remains about effective messaging to boost public support for COVID-19 mitigation efforts, especially among people of color. We investigate the relationship between interview language and expressed support for COVID-19 public health protocols among Latinos: America’s largest ethnic...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Efrén Pérez, Jessica HyunJeong Lee, Ana L Oaxaca Carrasco, Cole Matthews, Madison Ritsema
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2023-04-01
Series:Research & Politics
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/20531680231168736
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849425186956247040
author Efrén Pérez
Jessica HyunJeong Lee
Ana L Oaxaca Carrasco
Cole Matthews
Madison Ritsema
author_facet Efrén Pérez
Jessica HyunJeong Lee
Ana L Oaxaca Carrasco
Cole Matthews
Madison Ritsema
author_sort Efrén Pérez
collection DOAJ
description Much uncertainty remains about effective messaging to boost public support for COVID-19 mitigation efforts, especially among people of color. We investigate the relationship between interview language and expressed support for COVID-19 public health protocols among Latinos: America’s largest ethnic group. Prior work establishes that interview language shapes opinions by cognitively structuring which considerations people use to express attitudes. Yet other work suggests interview language shapes opinions by activating specific cultural norms associated with a tongue. We predicted that interviewing in Spanish (versus English) would boost support for COVID-19 protocols by activating pro-social norms known to be strongly associated with that language. We uncover null support for this prediction in a pre-registered experiment on bilingual Latino adults ( N = 1645). Instead, we find that Latinos assigned to interview in Spanish report weaker support for COVID-19 protocols, regardless of which cultural norms are primed. We discuss implications for COVID-19 attitudes in linguistically diverse polities.
format Article
id doaj-art-4836f5c1ebbc4192b65caf63b4c86975
institution Kabale University
issn 2053-1680
language English
publishDate 2023-04-01
publisher SAGE Publishing
record_format Article
series Research & Politics
spelling doaj-art-4836f5c1ebbc4192b65caf63b4c869752025-08-20T03:29:52ZengSAGE PublishingResearch & Politics2053-16802023-04-011010.1177/20531680231168736Unexpected, but consistent and pre-registered: Experimental evidence on interview language and Latino views of COVID-19Efrén PérezJessica HyunJeong LeeAna L Oaxaca CarrascoCole MatthewsMadison RitsemaMuch uncertainty remains about effective messaging to boost public support for COVID-19 mitigation efforts, especially among people of color. We investigate the relationship between interview language and expressed support for COVID-19 public health protocols among Latinos: America’s largest ethnic group. Prior work establishes that interview language shapes opinions by cognitively structuring which considerations people use to express attitudes. Yet other work suggests interview language shapes opinions by activating specific cultural norms associated with a tongue. We predicted that interviewing in Spanish (versus English) would boost support for COVID-19 protocols by activating pro-social norms known to be strongly associated with that language. We uncover null support for this prediction in a pre-registered experiment on bilingual Latino adults ( N = 1645). Instead, we find that Latinos assigned to interview in Spanish report weaker support for COVID-19 protocols, regardless of which cultural norms are primed. We discuss implications for COVID-19 attitudes in linguistically diverse polities.https://doi.org/10.1177/20531680231168736
spellingShingle Efrén Pérez
Jessica HyunJeong Lee
Ana L Oaxaca Carrasco
Cole Matthews
Madison Ritsema
Unexpected, but consistent and pre-registered: Experimental evidence on interview language and Latino views of COVID-19
Research & Politics
title Unexpected, but consistent and pre-registered: Experimental evidence on interview language and Latino views of COVID-19
title_full Unexpected, but consistent and pre-registered: Experimental evidence on interview language and Latino views of COVID-19
title_fullStr Unexpected, but consistent and pre-registered: Experimental evidence on interview language and Latino views of COVID-19
title_full_unstemmed Unexpected, but consistent and pre-registered: Experimental evidence on interview language and Latino views of COVID-19
title_short Unexpected, but consistent and pre-registered: Experimental evidence on interview language and Latino views of COVID-19
title_sort unexpected but consistent and pre registered experimental evidence on interview language and latino views of covid 19
url https://doi.org/10.1177/20531680231168736
work_keys_str_mv AT efrenperez unexpectedbutconsistentandpreregisteredexperimentalevidenceoninterviewlanguageandlatinoviewsofcovid19
AT jessicahyunjeonglee unexpectedbutconsistentandpreregisteredexperimentalevidenceoninterviewlanguageandlatinoviewsofcovid19
AT analoaxacacarrasco unexpectedbutconsistentandpreregisteredexperimentalevidenceoninterviewlanguageandlatinoviewsofcovid19
AT colematthews unexpectedbutconsistentandpreregisteredexperimentalevidenceoninterviewlanguageandlatinoviewsofcovid19
AT madisonritsema unexpectedbutconsistentandpreregisteredexperimentalevidenceoninterviewlanguageandlatinoviewsofcovid19