To trust, or being made to trust : attitudes towards PRC government policy on COVID-19 Pandemic among Chinese youth with higher education

Abstract

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, China had been under controversy because of some measures to fight the pandemic. This study collected various opinions concerning the PRC Government Policy on the COVID-19 pandemic from the research participants, which were Chinese youth with higher education through the use of questionnaires. The questionnaire was constructed with questions concerning participants' opinions on the necessity, effectiveness, intensity of the COVID-19 policy, and media coverage during the pandemic. The results of the questionnaire will be operationalised into participants' degree of trust in government policy, as well as participants' degree of pressure, which reflects how eager they are to accept the policy and how they see government interference. These values will be integrated into various types to show the participants' varied attitudes. The study's findings demonstrated that the participants' trust in the government's COVID-19 policies varies widely, and they felt a lot of pressure from the government during the implementation process. This result suggests that the government can build people's trust and convince some of them through its performance and media campaigns, but in addition, it also needs to put pressure on those who have doubts in order to achieve the ultimate goal of the policy. Additionally, the study demonstrated how participants' degree of trust and perception of pressure is influenced by their educational background, personal COVID-19 diagnostic experience, and media references. The study has verified that education in Mainland China and Mainland Chinese media can enhance people's trust in government COVID-19 policies and reduce their perceptions of pressure from the government. As for the personal experience of being diagnosed with COVID- 19, people's perception of governmental pressure will decrease after diagnosis, but their trust level will also decrease.