This study investigates the relationship between partisanship, predicted COVID-19 deaths, and support for preventive measures. Through four experiments conducted in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, and the United States, the researchers tested whether partisan differences in policy support are linked to differences in death forecasts. The results consistently showed that partisanship was a significant predictor of both the optimism of death forecasts and the level of support for COVID-19 policies, but the number of forecasted deaths was not correlated with policy support. This suggests that even effective communication strategies highlighting pandemic severity may not increase support for preventive measures due to strong partisan biases.
