Behavioural and attitudinal support to zero-COVID policies among adolescents in a Chinese coastal area: direct experience and political socialization

ABSTRACT

China implemented the stringent and controversial zero-COVID policies nationally for almost three years during the pandemic, yet little is known why Chinese citizens tolerated and supported the policies. Adopting the explanatory frameworks of direct experience and political socialization, we explored, with data from a representative survey in a coastal area in China, how adolescents in the area formulated their behavioural compliance with and attitudinal trust in the policies. We found that after socio-demographic differences were controlled, negative direct experiences during the pandemic were associated with deviation and distrust while positive direct experiences correlated with compliance and trust. In addition, parental socialization at home and school socialization also affected adolescents in their policy support. Those who enjoyed good communications with parents tended to develop both behavioural compliance and attitudinal trust. Adolescents with college-educated parents were more likely to show trust in the zero-COVID policies, and those who attended elite schools were more likely to comply with them. Attention needs to be paid to the agencies of adolescents embedded in their life environment in developing attitudinal and behavioural policy support, as well as the increasing inequality in China during the pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• Policy support
• political socialization
• direct experience
• social inequality
• COVID-19 pandemic
• China

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The research activities for the study were generously supported by the International Research Collaboration Fund of the Department of Social Work at the Chinese University of Hong Kong [Grant # 19231102].

Notes on contributors

Haijing Dai

Haijing Dai is an associate professor of social work at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She received her PHD degree in social work and sociology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her research explores how gender and inter-generational dynamics in household division of labour, family care arrangement, and family life interact with socio-economic and welfare-system changes in Chinese societies, and how new patterns of stratification and inequality are constructed in these processes.

Gaoming Ma

Gaoming Ma is an assistant professor at the school of public affairs, Zhejiang University.

Niantao Jiang

Niantao Jiang is a PHD Candidate at the Department of Sociology, the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Hongjin Gong

Hongjin Gong is a research assistant at the Department of Social Work, the Chinese University of Hong Kong