2025/08/02 by Randy Stein, Abraham M. Rutchick, Alice Y. Sin +3 · 1 voice
Neuroscience · Social Sciences · #Misinformation and Its Impacts #Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment #Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy
paper · doi:10.1080/00224545.2025.2541206
openalex publication_date 2025/08/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
To some, measures to curb COVID-19 were reasonable and prudent; to others, they were unacceptable signs of losing a more symbolic battle. We propose that such symbolic thinking is key to how people perceive reality. We report three studies (total N = 5535 across eight countries, conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic) linking what we term Symbolic Show of Strength (SSS) in the context of COVID (SSS-COVID) with several important outcomes. Across countries, SSS-COVID was the strongest predictor of perception of COVID-19’s danger, attitudes toward vaccines, and belief in COVID-related misinformation in multiple regressions taking into a host of other reasoning and sociopolitical variables. In a fourth study (N = 430) we adapt the concept to attitudes toward cryptocurrency, with SSS-Crypto uniquely predicting perceived risk of cryptocurrency, general conspiracy beliefs, and preferences for autocratic government. Our results also suggest that SSS shapes perceptions of products, marketing ethics, and symbols more broadly.