Risk-driven or authority-based? Unraveling public policy compliance during the pandemic in China.

Publication date: Oct 03, 2025

Current research on pandemic compliance behavior primarily focuses on two motivational theories: normative and calculative motivations. Our study examines both by looking at public respect for authority and fear of infection risk to understand health policy compliance during COVID-19 in China. We conducted a survey with 2,305 Chinese citizens, using authority value and risk perception as independent variables, compliance behavior as the dependent variable, and government trust and professional trust as mediators. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the hypotheses. Our study finds that, in terms of direct effects, both authoritarian values and risk perception are positively associated with compliance behavior among the Chinese public, with the effect of authoritarian values being stronger. Government and professional trust enhance the impact of authority value on compliance (trust enhancement) but weaken the impact of risk perception (trust paradox). From the perspective of normative and calculative motivations, compared with the calculative motivation based on individual risk perception, the normative motivation represented by authoritarian values demonstrates a stronger tendency toward policy cooperation, and the public is more likely to comply with public health policies when driven by this motivation. Trust in government and medical experts is crucial for health compliance behavior.

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Semantics

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