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Results of Specification Curve Analysis for Trust in Government and Adoption of Prosocial Behaviour Note. The standardised β coefficients for the association of trust in government with prosocial behaviour obtained from all 90 specifications (listed on x axis) are plotted at the upper half of the graph. Each point represents the standardised β coefficient of one specification, and the error bar (in grey) represents the corresponding standard error. The dashed line indicates the median standardised β coefficient (median standardised β = 0.229, median standard error = 0.006, median sample size = 23,693). At the lower half of the graph, the corresponding specifications for each level of the three model specification factors are displayed as squares; the four individual items of prosocial behaviour were omitted due to the figure size.
Source publication
Background
The effective implementation of government policies and measures for controlling the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic requires compliance from the public. This study aimed to examine cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of trust in government regarding COVID-19 control with the adoption of recommended health behaviou...
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Citations
... Several large-scale international surveys found positive associations between political trust at the individual level and the adoption of health protective behavior (Han et al., 2021;Pagliaro et al., 2021; see also Devine et al., 2020b, for an early review of the literature) and others found the same association at the regional or country level (Bargain & Aminionov, 2020;Kestilä-Kekkonen et al., 2022; but see Woelfert & Kunst, 2020). Probably as a consequence of this increased compliance, higher trust was also associated with a lower excess mortality rate during the pandemic across 113 countries (Farzanegan & Hofmann, 2022). ...
We test the hypothesis that COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is attributable to distrustful complacency—an interactive combination of low concern and low trust. Across two studies, 9,695 respondents from different parts of Britain reported their level of concern about COVID-19, trust in the UK government, and intention to accept or refuse the vaccine. Multilevel regression analysis, controlling for geographic area and relevant demographics, confirmed the predicted interactive effect of concern and trust. Across studies, respondents with both low trust and low concern were 10%–22% more vaccine hesitant than respondents with either high trust or high concern, and 26%–29% more hesitant than respondents with both high trust and high concern. Results hold equally among White, Black, and Muslim respondents, consistent with the view that regardless of mean-level differences, a common process underlies vaccine hesitancy, underlining the importance of tackling distrustful complacency both generally and specifically among unvaccinated individuals and populations.
... Confidence in government institutions "has been identified as a cornerstone of the political system, particularly in crises such as natural disasters, economic crises, or pandemics" (Han et al., 2023). An investigative report, led by the executive director of the 9/11 Commission, Philip Zelikow, found that "the leaders of the United States could not apply their country's vast assets effectively enough in practice" (Washington Post, 2023). ...
... An investigative report, led by the executive director of the 9/11 Commission, Philip Zelikow, found that "the leaders of the United States could not apply their country's vast assets effectively enough in practice" (Washington Post, 2023). Public and expert concerns about the ability of United States to respond effectively or adequately have been heightened in context of the initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic (Deslatte, 2020;Goldstein & Wiedemann, 2020;Hamilton & Safford, 2021;Latkin et al., 2020;Pollard & Davis, 2021) and the rise in domestic partisanship (Funk et al., 2020;Gadarian et al., 2021;Milligan, 2020;Roberts, 2020;Van Green & Tyson, 2020), which may be especially impactful in working across levels of government-that is, among cities, counties, states, tribal authorities, and the federal government-as trust in government correlates positively with effective response in emergency situations (Han et al., 2023;Lau et al., 2020). The public's response in the United States was not mirrored in all states; some nation-states saw trust in government increase, including dramatic rises (Goldfinch et al., 2021;Gotanda et al., 2021). ...
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States is actively reshaping parts of its national security enterprise. This article explores the underlying politics, with a specific interest in the context of biosecurity, biodefense, and bioterrorism strategy, programs, and response, as the United States responds to the most significant outbreak of an emerging infectious disease in over a century. How the implicit or tacit failure to recognize the political will and political decision-making connected to warfare and conflict for biological weapons programs in these trends is explored. Securitization of public health has been a focus of the literature over the past half century. This recent trend may represent something of an inverse: an attempt to treat national security interests as public health problems. A hypothesis is that the most significant underrecognized problem associated with COVID-19 is disinformation and the weakening of confidence in institutions, including governments, and how adversaries may exploit that blind spot.
... Trust in government is also influenced by the performance of the national economy and citizens' evaluations of the economy. Finally, the perception of fairness, including being treated equally as other people in society, can also affect trust in government, particularly during crises (Han et al., 2023). ...
Concerns about global instability and vulnerability have been raised by the massive economic crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the COVID-19 epidemic and subsequent prolonged lockdowns have caused operational and financial difficulties for Indian institutions. Banks have devised a variety of measures to deal with the fallout from the epidemic, and as a consequence, clients have altered their financial behavior. The study takes a qualitative approach, analyzing the behaviors of gig workers via the lens of “expert mining.” Researchers found that gig workers' employment uncertainty had the reverse effect on their behavior, making them more likely to sacrifice spending in lieu of saving for the future and significantly reducing on necessities such as livelihood spending and travel plan. In addition, the research found that there was a favorable association between the attitude towards the internet and the adoption of mobile banking among gig workers during Covid uncertainty.
... The role of trust in government institutions as a predictor of intention to adhere to COVID-19 behavioural measures is shown in several UK studies (18, 26, 38). This nding implies the need for clear information and unambiguous health instructions that expresses government transparency and effective communication (27). ...
During the COVID-19 pandemic, lateral flow tests (LFTs) were used in England to regulate access to work, education, social activities, and travel. However, falsification of home LFT results was a concern. This study estimated the prevalence of LFT falsification behaviours (FBs) in a representative sample of adults living in England (n=1577) who have previously taken an at-home LFT using direct questioning (DQ) and an indirect questioning technique, the extended crosswise model (ECWM). The prevalence of FBs using DQ was significantly lower than ECWM estimates (reporting a negative result without conducting a test: 5.7% DQ vs 18.4% ECWM; reporting a positive test as negative 4.6% DQ vs 11.0% ECWM; producing a fake positive test 1.7% DQ vs 6.4% ECWM). Moral norms, subjective norms, anticipated regret, perception of risk to self, and trust in government predicted some FBs. Home LFT testing is subject to prevalent FBs. Data about compliance with behavioural regulations derived from conventional DQ methods can considerably affect the quality of the evidence available to policymakers and public health experts in their decision making. Indirect questioning techniques can help provide more realistic and higher quality data to government and public health agencies.
... Badman et al. demonstrated that trust in institutions and not in political leaders determined compliance in COVID-19 prevention measures in 12 different countries (29). Similarly, the results of a cross-sectional (on 23 countries) and longitudinal study conducted by Han et al. highlighted how higher trust in government was significantly associated with higher adoption of health behaviours and prosocial behaviours (30). ...
Background and aim:
as a reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, countries all over the world have undertaken wide-scale measures to prevent and limit the spread of the virus. Suggested preventative measures mainly included "lockdown", social distancing, wearing facemasks, and vaccinations. The success of these measures was widely dependent on the cooperation of citizens. However, people reacted differently to the several types of restrictions and recommendations. Even if the majority followed the rules, others ignored them. This study aims to investigate the reasons for the compliance or violation of the rules developed to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.
Methods:
to answer the research question, the analysis of two different surveys conducted on a representative sample of Italians (N=2000) were conducted and analysed through descriptive statistics.
Results:
the data collection agreed with published literature. Compliance with rules during emergencies followed diligence and altruistic patterns. Fear of sanctions did not seem to work in relation to rules compliance during emergency situations. The lack of clarity of regulations in terms of complexity or constant changes led to non-compliance even intervening as a neutralization technique.
Conclusions:
government's fear-based interventions did not seem to work since Italians tended to adhere to the rules primarily out of respect for legitimate authority. Future research should focus more on the topic of trust in institutions in emergency situations with the aim of highlighting the key points for successful governance, also in terms of rules compliance.
... This finding underscores the significance of clear and open communication, efficient administration, and salient anticipatory actions in fostering public reliance and assurance in difficult circumstances. The findings of a cross-national survey by Han et al. (28) for example indicated a significant correlation between an increased level of confidence in governmental institutions concerning the management of COVID-19 and the increased uptake of healthy and prosocial behaviors. Trust was found to be impacted positively by various factors, such as the perception of the government's organizational efficiency, its proficiency in disseminating clear and accurate information regarding COVID-19, and a perceived sense of equity (29). ...
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic became a global emergency, and it is vital to understand the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of populations regarding this disease to prevent its spread.
Objective
The study aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the Indonesian public toward COVID-19.
Methods
An observational study was conducted in Indonesia between November 2020 and January 2021. The study employed a validated questionnaire with 391 respondents to the survey. A comparative analysis was performed to assess the mean differences in respondents’ characteristics in terms of their knowledge, attitude, and practice scores. Furthermore, regression analysis was used to investigate those factors associated with the good practice of health protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Results
The findings showed significant differences in the average knowledge scores across gender, geographical location, and educational attainment. Furthermore, significant differences in practices were identified in terms of gender and educational attainment. The findings of the study indicate that the participants demonstrated a significant awareness of COVID-19, as evidenced by their high mean knowledge score of 17.83 ± 1.74 out of a possible total score of 22 points. The results indicate that the respondents exhibited a positive attitude toward COVID-19 prevention measures, as evidenced by an attitude score of 26.95 ± 3.14 out of a possible total score of 30 points. Additionally, the mean score for good practice in health protocols aimed at reducing COVID-19 infection was found to be high (4.23 ± 0.96) at 5 points. This suggests that the study participants had already adopted effective measures to comply with the recommended health guidelines. The results of the regression analysis indicated that gender, level of education, and knowledge were statistically significant predictors for adherence to health protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic ( p < 0.05).
Conclusion
The aforementioned results offer significant perspectives into the populace’s comprehension, disposition, and conduct regarding COVID-19 in Indonesia. These insights could potentially contribute to the formulation of efficacious measures aimed at curtailing transmission of the virus.
... The positive influence of social trust found further support. A higher level of government trust and trust in its ability to control COVID-19 were significantly associated with greater compliance with protective behaviors such as frequent handwashing, avoidance of crowded spaces, and social isolation or quarantine [30,31]. Similarly, greater trust in science and scientists increased individuals' tendency to follow the COVID-19 prevention guidelines [32] and to accept the lockdown [33]. ...
Research in the field shows the crucial role of trust in the functioning of many aspects of social life, especially when dealing with emergencies. We report the results of a study (N = 883) carried out in Italy during the first phase of the COVID-19 crisis to assess whether and how social trust (i.e., trust in those who have the authority and responsibility for making decisions, such as the Italian government, the regional government, the Civil Protection, the European Union, the Catholic Church, and the scientific community) and general trust (i.e., trust in the trustworthiness of other individuals, such as Italians and humankind) are associated with the employment of coping strategies in dealing with the challenges of the pandemic. Overall, the results highlight that trust in different authorities and institutions and trust in other human beings are positively associated with the adoption of adaptive coping strategies such as seeking social support, positive reinterpretation and growth, problem-solving orientation, and transcendent orientation. In contrast, they are negatively related to the adoption of maladaptive coping strategies such as avoidance. These findings point out the benefits of various types of trust in helping individuals deal with crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
... In contemporary society, social media also plays an important role in shaping consumers' naïve images about a destination or a product (Luo & Zhai, 2017;Mizrachi & Fuchs, 2016;Möller, Wang, & Nguyen, n. d.;Schroeder & Pennington-Gray, 2014;Vu, Li, & Law, 2020). However, Abubakar, Ilkan, Meshall Al-Tal, and Eluwole (2017); Han et al. (2021); Rasoolimanesh et al. (2021) argue that when tourists associate a destination with trustworthy social capital, the trust serves to minimize their uncertainty and perceived risk. Finally, Kapuściński and Richards (2016) apply a framing theory of media effects to explain how psychographic characteristics moderate the effect of media coverage on their destination risk perception. ...
... Trust in information from the government and health authorities (Lazarus et al., 2021), pharmaceutical companies (Phillips et al., 2022), institutions (Kreps et al., 2020), and researchers (Latkin et al., 2021) has been a strong predictor of willingness to be vaccinated. In crosscountry samples, trust in public health organizations and key experts (Rozek et al., 2021), as well as trust in government, were associated with, respectively, higher vaccine acceptance and higher compliance with health-protective behaviors (Han et al., 2021). ...
Following the outbreak of COVID-19, scientists rushed to develop vaccines to protect individuals and ferry the world out of the pandemic. Unfortunately, vaccine hesitancy is a major threat to the success of vaccination campaigns. Research on previous pandemics highlighted the centrality of perceived risk and confidence as core determinants of vaccine acceptance. Research on COVID-19 is less conclusive, and frequently it relies on one-country, cross-sectional data, thus making it hard to generalize results across contexts and observe these relationships over time. To bridge these gaps, in this article, we analyzed the association between perceived risk, confidence, and vaccine acceptance cross-sectionally at individual and country levels. Then, we longitudinally explored whether a within-country variation in perceived risk and confidence was correlated with a variation in vaccine acceptance. We used data from a large-scale survey of individuals in 23 countries and 19 time-points between June 2020 and March 2021 and comparative longitudinal multilevel models to estimate the associations at different levels of analysis simultaneously. Results show the existence of cross-sectional relationships at the individual and country levels but no significant associations within countries over time. This article contributes to our understanding of the roles of risk perception and confidence in COVID-19 vaccines' acceptance by underlining that these relationships might differ at diverse levels of analysis. To foster vaccine uptake, it might be important to address individual concerns and persisting contextual characteristics, but increasing levels of perceived risk and confidence might not be a sufficient strategy to increase vaccine acceptance rates.
... In the literature, an increase in democratic governance (16) and in community involvement in decision making (13,21,22), were associated with a decrease in excess mortality, while higher levels of trust in government were associated with a higher compliance with proposed COVID-19 preventive measures (22,23). ...
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the health equity gap within and between countries. Western countries were the first to receive vaccines and mortality was higher among socially deprived, minority and indigenous populations within countries. Surprisingly, many sub-Saharan countries presented low excess mortalities. These countries share experience with community organization and participation in health. The aim is to analyse if and how this central role of people can promote a successful pandemic response.
Methods
This analysis is partly based on local and national experiences shared during an international and Latin American conference on person-and people-centred care in 2021. Additionally, excess mortality data and data relevant for pandemic control as well as literature on the pandemic response of countries with an unexpected low excess mortality were consulted.
Results
Togo, Mongolia, Thailand, and Kenya had a seven times lower mean excess mortality for 2020 and 2021 than the United States of America. More successful pandemic responses were seen in settings with experience in managing epidemics like Ebola and HIV, well-established community networks, a national philosophy of mutual aid, financial government assistance, more human resources for primary care and paid community health workers.
Discussion
Since trust in authorities and health needs vary greatly, local strategies are needed to complement national and international pandemic responses. Three key levers were identified to promote locally tailored pandemic management: (1) well-organized communities, (2) community-oriented primary care and (3) health information systems. An organized community structure stems from a shared ethical understanding of humanity as being interconnected with each other and the environment. This structure facilitates mutual aid and participation in decision making. Community-oriented primary care includes attention for collective community health and ways to improve health from its roots. A health information system supports collective health and health equity analysis by presenting health needs stratified for social deprivation, ethnicity, and community circumstances.
Conclusions
The difference in excess mortality between countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and various country experiences, demonstrate the potential of the levers in promoting a more just and effective health emergency response. These same levers and strategy can promote more inclusive and socially just health systems.
