Trust in Institutions and the COVID-19 Threat: A Cross-Sectional Study on the Public Perception of Official Recommendations and of Othering in Switzerland

Objectives: To explore how perceived disease threat and trust in institutions relate to vaccination intent, perceived effectiveness of official recommendations, and to othering strategies. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of Swiss adults in July 2020. Outcome variables were vaccination intent, perceived effectiveness of official recommendations and othering strategies (labelling a given social group as responsible for the disease and distancing from it). Independent variables were perceived disease threat, trust in various institutions, perceived health-related measures, and sociodemographic variables. Linear and logistic regressions were performed. Results: The response rate was 20.2% (1518/7500). Perceived disease threat and trust in medical/scientific institutions were positively associated with vaccination intent and perceived effectiveness of official recommendations for coronavirus mitigation measures. Only disease threat was associated with a perception of effectiveness among othering strategies. Age and education levels were associated with vaccination intent. Conclusion: Reinforcing trust in medical/scientific institutions can help strengthen the perceived effectiveness of official recommendations and vaccination. It however does not prevent adherence to ineffective protecting measures such as othering strategies, where decreasing perceptions of epidemic threat appears to be more efficient.

[1]  Joel R. Anderson,et al.  The Impact of COVID-19 on the Majority Population, Ethno-Racial Minorities, and Immigrants , 2021, European Psychologist.

[2]  M. Tonković,et al.  Trust in Science, Perceived Vulnerability to Disease, and Adherence to Pharmacological and Non-pharmacological COVID-19 Recommendations , 2021, Frontiers in Psychology.

[3]  J. Drury,et al.  Pandemic fatigue? How adherence to covid-19 regulations has been misrepresented and why it matters , 2021, BMJ.

[4]  Sabrina Stöckli,et al.  Stress and worry in the 2020 coronavirus pandemic: relationships to trust and compliance with preventive measures across 48 countries in the COVIDiSTRESS global survey , 2021, Royal Society Open Science.

[5]  C. Latkin,et al.  Trust in a COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S.: A social-ecological perspective , 2021, Social Science & Medicine.

[6]  P. Peretti-Watel,et al.  The French public's attitudes to a future COVID-19 vaccine: The politicization of a public health issue , 2020, Social Science & Medicine.

[7]  A. Murray,et al.  Non-compliance with COVID-19-related public health measures among young adults in Switzerland: Insights from a longitudinal cohort study , 2020, Social Science & Medicine.

[8]  A. Gloster,et al.  The Role of Illness Perceptions, Coping, and Self-Efficacy on Adherence to Precautionary Measures for COVID-19 , 2020, International journal of environmental research and public health.

[9]  Steven Taylor,et al.  Fear and avoidance of healthcare workers: An important, under-recognized form of stigmatization during the COVID-19 pandemic , 2020, Journal of Anxiety Disorders.

[10]  G. Stoker,et al.  Trust and the Coronavirus Pandemic: What are the Consequences of and for Trust? An Early Review of the Literature , 2020, Political studies review.

[11]  Tao Liu,et al.  Cluster infections play important roles in the rapid evolution of COVID-19 transmission: A systematic review , 2020, International Journal of Infectious Diseases.

[12]  Lindsay Y. Dhanani,et al.  Unexpected public health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic: a national survey examining anti-Asian attitudes in the USA , 2020, International Journal of Public Health.

[13]  A. Dror,et al.  Vaccine hesitancy: the next challenge in the fight against COVID-19 , 2020, European Journal of Epidemiology.

[14]  Alyssa M. Lederer,et al.  How Fear Appeal Approaches in COVID-19 Health Communication May Be Harming the Global Community , 2020, Health education & behavior : the official publication of the Society for Public Health Education.

[15]  B. Coetzee,et al.  Structural barriers to adhering to health behaviours in the context of the COVID-19 crisis: Considerations for low- and middle-income countries , 2020, Global public health.

[16]  Olivia Jensen,et al.  The paradox of trust: perceived risk and public compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore , 2020, Journal of Risk Research.

[17]  K. Peleg,et al.  Self-Isolation Compliance In The COVID-19 Era Influenced By Compensation: Findings From A Recent Survey In Israel. , 2020, Health affairs.

[18]  N. Plohl,et al.  Modeling compliance with COVID-19 prevention guidelines: the critical role of trust in science , 2020, Psychology, health & medicine.

[19]  P. Vasilopoulos,et al.  Sociodemographic and Psychological Correlates of Compliance with the COVID-19 Public Health Measures in France , 2020, Canadian Journal of Political Science.

[20]  D. Fido,et al.  Functional Fear Predicts Public Health Compliance in the COVID-19 Pandemic , 2020, International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction.

[21]  M. Crockett,et al.  The effectiveness of moral messages on public health behavioral intentions during the COVID-19 pandemic , 2020 .

[22]  R. Chung,et al.  Anti-Chinese sentiment during the 2019-nCoV outbreak , 2020, The Lancet.

[23]  J. West,et al.  Whistleblowing Policies in American States: A Nationwide Analysis , 2019, The American Review of Public Administration.

[24]  C. Pfeiffer,et al.  Determinants of vaccine hesitancy in Switzerland: study protocol of a mixed-methods national research programme , 2019, BMJ Open.

[25]  Zhidong Cao,et al.  Research on Information Dissemination of Public Health Events Based on WeChat: A Case Study of Avian Influenza , 2019, 2019 IEEE International Conference on Intelligence and Security Informatics (ISI).

[26]  G. Kok,et al.  Ignoring theory and misinterpreting evidence: the false belief in fear appeals , 2018, Health psychology review.

[27]  David T Smith,et al.  'The Unhealthy Other': How vaccine rejecting parents construct the vaccinating mainstream. , 2018, Vaccine.

[28]  E. Mohammadi,et al.  Barriers and facilitators related to the implementation of a physiological track and trigger system: A systematic review of the qualitative evidence , 2017, International journal for quality in health care : journal of the International Society for Quality in Health Care.

[29]  D. Garbarski.  Research in and Prospects for the Measurement of Health Using Self-Rated Health. , 2016, Public opinion quarterly.

[30]  Richard E. Lucas,et al.  Assessing the validity of single-item life satisfaction measures: results from three large samples , 2014, Quality of Life Research.

[31]  J. Gurwitz,et al.  Systematic Review of the Use of Online Questionnaires of Older Adults , 2014, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[32]  Alain Clémence,et al.  Collective symbolic coping with disease threat and othering: a case study of avian influenza. , 2013, The British journal of social psychology.

[33]  A. Bangerter,et al.  Longitudinal Investigation of Public Trust in Institutions Relative to the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic in Switzerland , 2012, PloS one.

[34]  A. Bangerter,et al.  Preventing contagion with avian influenza: Disease salience, attitudes toward foreigners, and avoidance beliefs , 2012 .

[35]  A. Cheng,et al.  Impact of swine influenza and quarantine measures on patients and households during the H1N1/09 pandemic , 2012, Scandinavian journal of infectious diseases.

[36]  Pascal Wagner-Egger,et al.  Trust in medical organizations predicts pandemic (H1N1) 2009 vaccination behavior and perceived efficacy of protection measures in the Swiss public , 2011, European Journal of Epidemiology.

[37]  A. Bangerter,et al.  Lay perceptions of collectives at the outbreak of the H1N1 epidemic: heroes, villains and victims , 2011, Public understanding of science.

[38]  H. Joffe.  Public apprehension of emerging infectious diseases: are changes afoot? , 2011, Public understanding of science.

[39]  A. Bangerter,et al.  Keeping the vermin out: Perceived disease threat and ideological orientations as predictors of exclusionary immigration attitudes , 2010 .

[40]  M. Schaller,et al.  Perceived vulnerability to disease: Development and validation of a 15-item self-report instrument , 2009 .

[41]  A. Zwi,et al.  Our health and theirs: forced migration, othering, and public health. , 2006, Social science & medicine.

[42]  Michael C. Wendl,et al.  Argonaute—a database for gene regulation by mammalian microRNAs , 2005, BMC Bioinformatics.

[43]  Joel R. Evans,et al.  The value of online surveys , 2005, Internet Res..

[44]  Joy L. Johnson,et al.  Othering and Being Othered in the Context of Health Care Services , 2004, Health communication.

[45]  Kim Witte,et al.  A Meta-Analysis of Fear Appeals: Implications for Effective Public Health Campaigns , 2000, Health education & behavior : the official publication of the Society for Public Health Education.

[46]  M. Canales,et al.  Othering: toward an understanding of difference. , 2000, ANS. Advances in nursing science.

[47]  Karen Stenner,et al.  Perceived Threat and Authoritarianism , 1997 .

[48]  E. Green,et al.  The impact of COVID-19 on majority and ethno-cultural immigrant minority populations: A systematic literature review on threat appraisals from an intergroup perspective , 2021 .

[49]  Steven L. Neuberg,et al.  Danger, Disease, and the Nature of Prejudice(s) , 2012 .

[50]  C. Lloyd,et al.  A Reader in promoting public health: challenge and controversy , 2007 .

[51]  J. Costello.  Social Exclusion and Public Health , 2003 .

[52]  Available from: , 2002 .

[53]  W. Wagner.  CAN REPRESENTATIONS EXPLAIN SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR? A DISCUSSION OF SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS AS RATIONAL SYSTEMS * , 1993 .