Christians Take More Covid Precautions after Listening to "Love Your Neighbor" Message
A study found that Evangelical Christians are more likely to take Covid-19 precautions after listening to a message comparing mask wearing to “loving you neighbor as yourself.” The study specifically measured mask-wearing but the study’s authors generalized the findings to issues like vaccination and social distancing.
The study had three groups. The first group listened to the message comparing mask wearing to loving one’s neighbor. The second group was presented with a message from former President Donald Trump calling masking “patriotic.” The third group was a control meaning they received no message.
The results suggested that Evangelicals who are White who listened to the religious message were more likely to believe mask use was helpful than those who listened to the patriotic message or the did not have a message. Additionally, the patriotic message performed better than the control group for White Evangelicals who were Republican
The authors concluded that “[v]alue-consistent messages carry the potential to change attitudes in ways useful to mitigating the toll of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
This study highlights how malleable people’s beliefs may be and how influential religious messaging can be. A key takeaway for Christians is understanding that even the born-again believer is subject to the effects of intentional persuasion – for better or worse.
