When a Lack of Passion Intertwines With Thought and Action: Neutral Feelings About COVID-19 Are Associated With U.S. Presidential Candidate Attitudes and Voting Behavior

Researchers might assume that neutrality does not shape thought and action because it signals that nothing in the environment needs attention, hence a person has little need to alter their behavior.However, feeling neutral about an issue might be consequential. The COVID-19 pandemic was amajor issue during the 2020 U.S. presidential election. We examined whether feeling neutral aboutCOVID-19 was associated with attitudes about the top 2 presidential candidates (Trump vs. Biden)and behavior (i.e., whether a person voted and who they voted for). Data were collected at 2 criticaltime points: Study 1 was conducted immediately after the U.S. presidential election and Study2 was conducted prior to the second Senate impeachment trial of Trump. Because feeling neutralabout COVID-19 might indicate that a person views the issue as unworthy of attention, a perspectivemore aligned with Trump’s approach, we hypothesized that feeling neutral about COVID-19would be associated with more pro-Trump attitudes and behaviors. Even after accounting for otheraffects about COVID-19, in both studies, neutrality was associated with more favorable attitudestoward Trump, less favorable attitudes toward Biden, being less likely to vote, and if a person didvote, being more likely to vote for Trump. In Sudy 2, neutrality was associated with less supportfor impeaching Trump. Overall, in contrast to the view that neutral affect exerts little influence,neutrality can be critically intertwined with thought and action