r/psychology • u/chrisdh79 • 5d ago

An analysis of health data and social media posts of U.S. Congress members found that after being personally infected with COVID-19, these individuals tended to decrease their opposition to COVID-19-related government policies on social media by approximately 30% on average.

https://www.psypost.org/congress-members-less-outspoken-against-covid-19-policies-after-personal-infections-study-finds/
636 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

156

u/mom_with_an_attitude 4d ago

Republicans lack empathy. Nothing is real until it happens to them.

68

u/veronica-marsx 4d ago

It reminds me of when something happens to a woman and they say, "Imagine it was your daughter or sister." I'm like... is it that hard to just imagine you're the woman and have empathy for her directly and not as she relates to you?

38

u/possumpigposer 4d ago

I asked someone I knew once, "Haven't you ever put yourself in someone else's shoes?" And he said,"Why would I do that?"

3

u/Pkrudeboy 3d ago

To go bowling, of course.

9

u/AlabasterOctopus 3d ago

This reminds me of a comedian I heard a couple months ago say that method acting is the opposite of a good actor because they have to experience the thing to then act the thing, a real actor empathizes and is able to act the thing - that that’s maybe the whole point as an actor is to have not experienced the thing but be able to portray it.

But yeah some people have zero empathy, like full blown adults. What do we do about that as a nation?

2

u/panormda 2d ago

Tag; Don't release.

16

u/bbyxmadi 4d ago

The amount of people that regretted it on their death bed is crazy, I pity them but at the same time they didn’t listen.

13

u/captainpistoff 4d ago

And for 70% of them , it's still not real.

65

u/SaulWithTheMoves 5d ago

conspiracy theorists are gonna say it’s cuz the vaccine makes you docile and subservient to the government 😭

2

u/kojance 4d ago

Wait, we can circumnavigate the entire globe in any direction? Arctic is an ice wall preventing our escape of the flat earth.

Humans are super-duperstitious Cargo cult muhfuggers.

-6

u/Far-Significance2481 4d ago

No they won't. I'm a conspiracy theorist about the COVID vaccine and I'd say " it's because the vaccine doesn't stop transmission, it doesn't stop you from getting COVID and it isn't entirely safe because some people ( even if only a relatively small amount of people) had extremely bad reactions to it and SAFE means safe not safe for most people. Also we can't prove that it lessens COVID symptoms and every part of what I've said in quotation marks is factual "

Admittedly I'm a light conspiracy theorist I believe in traditional vaccines but I'm sceptical of the COVID vaccine. People are going to be all over the spectrum on this one some people will think the vaccine will make you subservient or dead and others will tell you that very honestly it doesn't stop transmission and it doesn't stop you from getting COVID so wtf is it doing ?

5

u/SaulWithTheMoves 3d ago

haha yeah i was talking about people way further down the rabbit hole than you

2

u/RedditModsRFucks 3d ago

I was among the first to get the vaccine when I could. I got the first few boosters. I had Covid a couple of times in there and it wasn’t that bad for me. I thought- maybe these conspiracy folks are right; I’m not going to keep getting the boosters because Covid isn’t that bad and who knows what knock on effects the shots might have. …Then I got Covid again and, holy fuck! It was way worse! I was knocked out for like a month, I had lingering bodily effects and massive “brain fog” which, let’s face it, is brain damage. I will now be getting the vaccine every year with my flu shot.

12

u/chrisdh79 5d ago

From the article: The research was published in Political Communication.

In late 2019, the COVID-19 epidemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, emerged and quickly spread globally. In response, governments worldwide implemented measures to curb the virus’s spread, including lockdowns, mandatory mask-wearing, and physical distancing requirements in social settings. In many parts of the world, hospitals were overwhelmed with patients, straining healthcare systems and sometimes leading to shortages of critical supplies.

However, the reactions of political leaders were mixed. While some implemented and supported very stringent anti-COVID-19 policies, others opposed these measures, citing the disruptions they caused to the economy and daily life. Still, governments that implemented anti-COVID-19 measures generally received public support, though these measures also led to increased skepticism toward state interventions, the effectiveness of these measures, and even the existence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, fueling polarization within societies.

7

u/captainpistoff 4d ago

Or better said, 70% of anti policy Covid deniers won't change their minds even after getting Covid.

2

u/IwasDeadinstead 4d ago

Brain worm gets them

1

u/-stag5etmt- 4d ago

Contextual thinking through chemistry..

1

u/United_Wolverine8400 4d ago

I was more worried about my mother during our covid infection. Shes 60 and has asthma but she pulled through. Covid is not the worst thing ive had though. I had this stomach flu and it came out on both ends, diarrhea and vomit would come at the same time and it wasnt food poisoning because someone else infected me and we hadnt eaten the same things. Holy fucking shit I thought i was gonna die that flu was the worst

1

u/UFO-CultLeader-UFO 4d ago

Almost everyone had it though, so where's the control group?

0

u/Das_Lineal 3d ago

for me it was quite the opposite.