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Leaders gender and the fight against COVID-19: investigation, replication, and a possible explanation

Maaravi, Y.; Gur, T.; Gur-Arie, Y.

2021-10-25 public and global health
10.1101/2021.10.12.21264903 medRxiv
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ObjectivesTo investigate the alleged relationship between leaders gender and COVID-19 related cases and deaths in different countries across the globe. Study designThe relationship between leaders gender and percent of women in parliament to COVID-19 cases and death per million was investigated in three time points (10 months) across 180 countries, controlling for possible covariates. MethodsThree different types of analyses were run: (1) Six basic t-tests; (2) Two repeated-measure ANOVA tests analyzing change over time; (3) Six stepwise regression analyses for both leaders gender and the percentage of women in parliament. ResultsOur findings suggest that, contrary to some research and popular media headlines, and in-line with recent academic research, leadership gender is not a significant factor in explaining the variation between countries in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. ConclusionsWe suggest that this alleged relationship may stem from an illusory correlation. We argue that the uncertainty, stress, and anxiety that prevail in these times of global pandemic may be the breeding ground for judgmental biases of this sort.

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