When good news backfires: Feelings of disadvantage in the Corona crisis
| Date | 01 June 2021 |
| DOI | 10.1177/01925121211002736 |
| Published date | 01 June 2021 |
| Author | Maximilian Filsinger,Markus Freitag |
https://doi.org/10.1177/01925121211002736
International Political Science Review
2021, Vol. 42(3) 367 –382
© The Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/01925121211002736
journals.sagepub.com/home/ips
When good news backfires:
Feelings of disadvantage in
the Corona crisis
Maximilian Filsinger and Markus Freitag
Institute of Political Science, University of Bern, Switzerland
Abstract
The Corona crisis is an unprecedented challenge for societies. Lockdowns and physical distancing orders
have generated economic, social and health-related consequences in many countries. In this regard, we
evaluate how information about positive economic expectations during the crisis affects citizens’ attitudes.
Using a real-world survey experiment, our analyses indicate that information about a positive economic
outlook and governmental support to mitigate the crisis actually promote people’s subjective feelings of
disadvantage rather than reducing them. Interestingly, it seems that information about economic recovery
that opens up opportunities may backfire due to increased upward comparisons and perceived competition.
Structural equation analyses suggest that this relationship is mediated by critical views about democratic
institutions during the crisis. Citizens lose confidence in their governments and democratic decision-makers
to uphold principles of fairness after the crisis ends. Our results have important implications on how to
communicate measures that aim to deal with the crisis.
Keywords
COVID-19, survey experiment, relative deprivation, mediation, Switzerland
Introduction
In this article we focus on the impact of optimistic information during the Coronavirus crisis on
citizens’ attitudes. The source of the crisis is ‘severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2’
(SARS-CoV-2), more commonly known as ‘Coronavirus disease’ or ‘COVID-19’. According to
Johns Hopkins University (2020), by mid April 2021 over 140 million people had been infected
with Coronavirus. In March 2020, many governments took unprecedented measures and enacted
lockdowns which slowed or stopped economic activity (e.g. closure of restaurants, retail stores and
industrial plants) to slow the spread of the virus (Flaxman et al., 2020; Haug et al., 2020). These
measures had a large impact on both the macro economy and individual economic circumstances
Corresponding author:
Maximilian Filsinger, Institute of Political Science, University of Bern, Fabrikstrasse 8, Bern, CH-3012, Switzerland.
Email: maximilian.filsinger@ipw.unibe.ch
1002736IPS0010.1177/01925121211002736International Political Science ReviewFilsinger and Freitag
research-article2021
Special Issue: The Political Ramifications of COVID 19
368 International Political Science Review 42(3)
and increased worry about a large-scale recession in the months ahead (Esaiasson et al., 2020;
Fetzer et al., 2020; Pitas and Ehmer, 2020; Schraff, 2020).
This is where our investigation finds its starting point. In this article, we evaluate the develop-
ment of relative deprivation; that is, subjective feelings of disadvantage during the COVID-19
crisis. We aim to ascertain to what extent optimistic information influences the ‘judgment that one
or one’s in-group is disadvantaged compared to a relevant referent’ (Pettigrew, 2016: 9) during the
crisis. For this purpose we conducted a real-world survey experiment during the first peak phase of
the crisis in Switzerland between 26 March and 6 April 2020. Respondents were randomly assigned
to a treatment condition with an optimistic real-world scenario and a control condition. The frame
presented a positive outlook on the economy (state provisions and future economic recovery).
Significantly, the information given in the frame stemmed from real-world examples and was not
artificially constructed, thereby reflecting typical experiences and information during the current
crisis (Bechtel et al., 2015). Consequently, our study is designed to identify the impact of informa-
tion about positive economic expectations during the crisis on the development of feelings of rela-
tive deprivation.1
Our experimental analyses indicate that information about positive economic projections during
the COVID-19 crisis enhances feelings of group relative deprivation. It seems that information
about economic recovery that opens up opportunities to move ahead may backfire due to increased
upward comparison and perceived competition (Smith and Huo, 2014: 231). Moreover, mediation
analyses indicate that this positive information might spark scepticism towards democratic institu-
tions during the Corona crisis, thereby promoting feelings of disadvantage.
We contribute to the literature in several ways. First, we offer an analysis of how the COVID-19
pandemic and its economic consequences affect citizens’ attitudes. For Western Europe the pan-
demic constitutes a dramatic experience with economic and social shutdowns unprecedented in
modern times. Second, we offer a timely analysis of feelings of disadvantage in a society severely
affected at the time of the survey. Third, although relative deprivation has moved from being a bit
player to central stage in social science (Smith et al., 2012: 203), an imbalance in the evaluation of
the concept remains obvious: while a large number of studies deal with the consequences of rela-
tive deprivation, research into the causes continues to lag behind. Thus, scrutinising the impact of
information about the economic circumstances of the COVID-19 crisis contributes to filling this
gap. Moreover, we focus on positive expectations during a crisis, adding additional evidence on
how crises and their consequences affect subjective relative deprivation. Fourth, we use a real-
world survey experiment and expand our understanding of the effects of issue frames based on
real-world information, thereby reflecting typical experiences of the current times of crisis (Bechtel
et al., 2015). In addition, we contribute to the discussion on how political communication which
fosters feelings of threat and insecurity influences citizens (Albertson and Gadarian, 2015; see also
Abulof et al., this issue).
Theory and hypotheses: how information about the economic
consequences of crises impacts feelings of disadvantage
Challenging conventional wisdom about the importance of absolute deprivation, relative depriva-
tion ‘occurs when people compare themselves to those who are better off and conclude that their
disadvantage is undeserved’ (Smith and Huo, 2014: 232). Thus, people see that somebody is better
off and regard this as unfair. In this regard, relative deprivation is a subjective impression that one
or one’s in-group is disadvantaged. This disadvantage is not necessarily objective but is based on
a subjective evaluation of the individual that s/he deserves more than s/he currently has. It is impor-
tant to distinguish between individual-level relative deprivation (IRD) and group-level relative
To continue reading
Request your trial