Objective

This study sought to understand how the public perceived new offenses in a time of public health crisis—social distancing deviance in the COVID-19 pandemic—and what factors influenced their perceptions. We also explored whether the correlates of crisis-related punitiveness changed over time, as the pandemic became more politicized.

Data and methods

Our data came from two national surveys administered one year apart, in March 2020 (n = 995) and March 2021 (n = 1,030). To measure sanction preferences, we used experimental vignettes randomizing the characteristics of the offense (e.g., victim harm) and offender (e.g., individual vs. business owner).

Results

As with other types of deviance, just desert concerns predominated. Respondents preferred harsher penalties when offenders violated social distancing directives (versus guidelines) and caused more harm. Certain political/ideological factors (e.g., binding foundations, libertarianism, racial resentment) became more predictive one year into the pandemic, after controlling for personal fear of the virus and demographic factors.

Conclusions

The findings illustrate how public punitiveness toward antisocial behavior develops over time. When new offenses emerge, the public initially evaluates them mostly based on moral culpability and harm. With politicization, however, other factors (e.g., racial and political beliefs) play a role as well. It appears, then, that public reactions to new offenses initially reflect intuitions of justice and are later updated to incorporate cultural and political concerns.

中文翻译：

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对 COVID-19 大流行中社交距离偏差的惩罚：两项国家实验的结果

客观的

本研究旨在了解公众在公共卫生危机时期如何看待新的犯罪行为（COVID-19 大流行中的社交距离偏差）以及哪些因素影响了他们的看法。我们还探讨了随着疫情变得更加政治化，与危机相关的惩罚措施的相关性是否随着时间的推移而发生变化。

数据和方法

我们的数据来自相隔一年的两次全国调查，分别是 2020 年 3 月 ( n = 995) 和 2021 年 3 月 ( n = 1,030)。为了衡量制裁偏好，我们使用了随机化犯罪特征（例如，受害者伤害）和犯罪者（例如，个人与企业主）的实验片段。

结果

与其他类型的越轨行为一样，只是应得的担忧占主导地位。当违法者违反社交距离指令（而不是准则）并造成更大伤害时，受访者更愿意受到更严厉的处罚。在控制了个人对病毒的恐惧和人口因素后，某些政治/意识形态因素（例如，有约束力的基础、自由主义、种族怨恨）在大流行一年后变得更具预测性。

结论

研究结果说明了公众对反社会行为的惩罚是如何随着时间的推移而发展的。当新的犯罪行为出现时，公众最初主要根据道德罪责和伤害来评价它们。然而，随着政治化，其他因素（例如种族和政治信仰）也会发挥作用。那么看来，公众对新罪行的反应最初反映了正义的直觉，后来又更新以纳入文化和政治关切。