Variation in Public Trust, Perceived Societal Fairness, and Well-Being before and after COVID-19 Onset—Evidence from the China Family Panel Studies

Chunli Wei, Qingqing Li, Ziyi Lian, Yijun Luo, Shiqing Song and Hong Chen ()
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Chunli Wei: Center for Studies of Education and Psychology of Ethnic Minorities in Southwest China, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Qingqing Li: School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China
Ziyi Lian: Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Yijun Luo: Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Shiqing Song: School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710062, China
Hong Chen: Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 19, 1-14

Abstract: The sudden onset of the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on all aspects of people’s lives, including their attitudes toward society and psychological well-being. This study aimed to analyze the variation in public trust, perceived societal fairness, and well-being before and after the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study used two-wave longitudinal data of 15,487 residents (2018, T1; 2020, T2) derived from the Chinese Family Panel Studies (CFPS). A repeated measures analysis of variance showed that (a) public trust, perceived societal fairness, and subjective well-being significantly improved and (b) depression significantly increased. Linear regression analysis showed that education and socioeconomic status had a significant predictive effect on public trust, perceived societal fairness, and depression; socioeconomic status had a significant predictive effect on subjective well-being. This study provides evidence and direction for current social governance, namely, policy implementation and pandemic response.

Keywords: COVID-19; public trust; perceived societal fairness; mental health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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