The Politics of Risk Perception: Indoor Mask Wearing Across University of Wisconsin- Madison Campus Neighborhoods

Abstract

This study examines the relationships between mask usage, political affiliation, methods of news consumption, and bias in news consumption, across University of Wisconsin-Madison campus neighborhoods. 334 current UW-Madison students answered a 12-question survey about these variables. Our survey found that 66 percent of respondents always wear a mask while indoors, 27 percent often wear a mask while indoors, and only 8 percent sometimes or rarely wear a mask while indoors. These results indicate that mask mandates are effective. Based on the reported responses, there was a statistically significant association between mask usage and political affiliation at a 95 percent significance level (p=0.0003). This study was unable to conclude that geographic neighborhood, news consumption bias, or the amount of time spent consuming news, impacts mask usage statistically. This outcome is due to a lack of survey responses and an inability to calculate the bias of social media and word of mouth news consumption.