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

• Published in: Analyses of social issues and public policy Vol. 22; no. 1; pp. 183 - 197
• Main Authors: Xie, Xiaona, Zhang, Yue, Zhang, Robert Jiqi, Ding, Yi, Guo, Yongyu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.04.2022; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Central government; COVID-19; national and local system; Original; Pandemics; Public opinion; Social systems; system support; China; COVID‐19; system support; national and local system
• ISSN: 1529-7489; 1530-2415
• DOI: 10.1111/asap.12298

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.