Work

Better support for national than local system during the COVID‐19 pandemic in China

Year: 2022

Type: article

Abstract: Individuals increase their support for social systems in response to the threat, panic, and uncertainty that characterized the COVID-19 pandemic. This could be because a powerful social system can compensate for a lack of control at the individual level. However, the levels of public support for national versus local systems could be different in China. Two studies investigate whether people support the national more strongly than the local system during the COVID-19 pandemic. Study 1 analyzed data of 3593 participants from China; the results showed that participants reported higher levels of support for the national system than the local. In Study 2, we further tested a possible moderator for it. With a sample of 275 participants, we found that the difference between public support for national and local systems in China was based on the perceived higher response efficacy with the national government. Implications for research on system justification and governmental pandemic responses were discussed.

Source: Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy

DOI: 10.1111/asap.12298

Authors: Xiaona Xie, Yue Zhang, Robert Jiqi Zhang, Yi Ding, Yongyu Guo

Institution: Nanjing Normal University

Language: English

Topic: Communication and COVID-19 Impact

Subfield: Communication

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Natural Science Foundation of China