LINKING DISTRUST OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR TO AWARENESS OF COVID-19: THE COVID DISSIDENCE PHENOMENON

Natalia Dmitrieva, Evgeny Styrin, Nikolay Lavrentyev and Ruslan Artamonov
Additional contact information
Natalia Dmitrieva: http://www.hse.ru/en/org/persons/487146
Evgeny Styrin: http://www.hse.ru/en/org/persons/23534359
Nikolay Lavrentyev: http://www.hse.ru/en/org/persons/121123076
Ruslan Artamonov: http://www.hse.ru/en/org/persons/27299033

Public administration issues, 2021, issue 6, 24-48

Abstract: In this study, we analyze the correlation between trust in government and official information with individual compliance to recommended measures, and between attitudes to government measures and people's behavior during the Covid-19 pandemic. We identified a group of respondents who refused categorically to believe in the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia - COVID-19 dissidents. They not only deny the pandemic but also refuse to comply with pandemic rules and restrictions. Then, based on seven national samples covering a combined total of 40,700 people in all regions of Russia, we established a link between the level of distrust of the public sector and the level of COVID-19 dissidence by means of linear regression.We proved that COVID-19 dissidents dont trust official statistics and believe in low infection risks. They provide low evaluation of the medical aid quality which leads to underestimation of the risk of being infected and COVID-19 compliance rules. We recommend governments consider restoring citizens trust as one of the priorities in fighting the pandemic, alongside battling misinformation that feeds conspiracy beliefs. The level of public trust in government decisions is a critical factor that speeds up mass vaccinations and contributes to a quick exit from the pandemic crisis.

Keywords: trust in government; distrust of the public sector; COVID dissidents; generalized social trust (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://vgmu.hse.ru/data/2021/11/16/1443574476/3_Bloc_Engl_2_6_21.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nos:vgmu00:2021:i:6:p:24-48

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Public administration issues from Higher School of Economics
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Irina A. Zvereva ().