Liberal or Conservative: Where Do You Stand with COVID-19?

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, citizens of the United States were faced with the additional challenge of safely voting in the 2020 presidential election. CDC guidelines led some of the population to opt for mail-in ballots in order to comply with physical distancing. There has been limited research conducted about how political ideation may influence one’s physical distancing practices. The purpose of this study is to increase our understanding of the University of South Florida Judy Genshaft Honors College students’ political influence on compliance with COVID-19 guidelines. The population consisted of students who are enrolled in the Judy Genshaft Honors College at the University of South Florida. A quantitative causal comparative approach was utilized. Initially, a MANOVA was conducted to identify significant trends across groups. The independent variable was participants’ political affiliation. The dependent variables were the participants responses to the survey questions regarding: whether they frequent restaurants, if they have been on an airplane in the past 3 months, and if they show their Campus Pass to their professors. Considering this was a pilot study, and data collection is still in progress the initial results were not significant. Overall means show that 38% of all political affiliations frequently go out to eat at restaurants. Overall means indicate that 32% of all political affiliations have been on an airplane in the past 3 months and that 68% show their Campus Pass to their professors. This information is the first of its kind at the University of South Florida