This mixed-methods study examines how political leaders mobilize collective intentionality during the COVID-19 pandemic in nine US States, and how collective intentionality differs across republican and democratic administrations. The results of our computational and qualitative analyses show that i) political leaders establish collective intentionality by emphasizing unity, vulnerability, action, and community boundaries; ii) political leaders’ call to collective action clashes with the inaction required by health guidelines; iii) social inequalities received little attention across all states compared to other themes; and iv) collective intentionality in democratic administrations is linked to individuals’ agency and actions, suggesting a bottom-up approach. Conversely, in republican administrations individuals’ contributions are downplayed compared to work and state-level action, indicating a top-down approach. This study demonstrates the theoretical and empirical value of collective intentionality in sociological research, and contributes to a better understanding of leadership and prosociality in times of crisis.

这项混合方法研究考察了美国九个州在 COVID-19 大流行期间政治领导人如何动员集体意向性，以及共和政体和民主政府之间的集体意向性有何不同。我们的计算和定性分析结果表明：i) 政治领导人通过强调团结、脆弱性、行动和社区边界来建立集体意向；ii) 政治领导人呼吁采取集体行动与卫生指南要求的不作为相冲突；iii) 与其他主题相比，社会不平等在所有州都很少受到关注；iv) 民主管理中的集体意向性与个人的能动性和行动相关联，表明采用自下而上的方法。反过来，与工作和国家层面的行动相比，在共和党政府中，个人的贡献被低估了，这表明一种自上而下的方法。本研究证明了集体意向性在社会学研究中的理论和实证价值，有助于更好地理解危机时期的领导力和亲社会性。