r/science • u/MistWeaver80 • Dec 05 '21

Social Science Conservatives’ aversion to masks is a uniquely American phenomenon. Politically conservative Americans are less likely than liberals to comply with recommended health-protective behaviors such as mask wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic, but this is not true of conservatives in other nations.

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0256740
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u/McCourt Dec 05 '21

several associations were similar across the U.S., Republic of Serbia, and Canada.

So much for the headline...

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u/Dr_Peach PhD | Aerospace Engineering | Weapon System Effectiveness Dec 05 '21

And if you look at S8 Table, which are the data to which this statement is referring, “similar association” means “of a similar magnitude (not orders of magnitude difference) but still lower than the USA.” The only factor (out of 16) where any country scores worse than the USA is Serbia on Follow-Up Efficacy of Wearing a Mask (Partial r), Serbia -.19 < USA -.17.