IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i20p10888-d657998.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Socioeconomic Status and COVID-19-Related Psychological Panic in China: The Role of Trust in Government and Authoritarian Personality

Author

Listed:
  • Xiaona Xie

    (School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, China)

  • Tingting Wu

    (School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, China)

  • Yue Zhang

    (School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, China)

  • Yongyu Guo

    (School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, China)

Abstract

Although the health and economic risks of COVID-19 may differ for higher- and lower-socioeconomic-status (SES) populations, some studies found that people with lower SES do not necessarily experience more psychological panic. In this research, we examine how SES is related with psychological panic during the COVID-19 pandemic using a large nationwide Chinese sample. Participants were 933 adults (mean age = 30.04, SD = 8.19) who completed an online questionnaire between 11 and 12 February 2020. Lower SES individuals have higher trust in government and thus experience less psychological panic, and the indirect effect of this trust suppresses the direct negative association between SES and psychological panic. In addition to this difference in trust in government between lower- and higher-status individuals, the indirect effect of the trust only exists among people with low (not high) authoritarian personalities. This study provides evidence that political trust may serve as a buffer, suppressing the negative association between SES and psychological panic; thus, policies and actions enhancing political trust are vital to support the mental health of individuals with lower SES during the pandemic, especially for citizens with low authoritarian personalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaona Xie & Tingting Wu & Yue Zhang & Yongyu Guo, 2021. "Socioeconomic Status and COVID-19-Related Psychological Panic in China: The Role of Trust in Government and Authoritarian Personality," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-12, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:20:p:10888-:d:657998
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/20/10888/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/20/10888/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Artazcoz, L. & Benach, J. & Borrell, C. & Cortès, I., 2004. "Unemployment and Mental Health: Understanding the Interactions among Gender, Family Roles, and Social Class," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 94(1), pages 82-88.
    2. Jian Yang & Chaohua Dong & Yongjin Chen, 2021. "Government’s Economic Performance Fosters Trust in Government in China: Assessing the Moderating Effect of Respect for Authority," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 154(2), pages 545-558, April.
    3. Zheng Xie & Adrienne N Poon & Zhijun Wu & Weiyan Jian & Kit Yee Chan, 2015. "Is Occupation a Good Predictor of Self-Rated Health in China?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(5), pages 1-18, May.
    4. Jianan Li & Xiaotong Jin & Taiyang Zhao & Tiannv Ma, 2021. "Conformity Consumer Behavior and External Threats: An Empirical Analysis in China During the COVID-19 Pandemic," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, July.
    5. Julia Dratva & Annina Zysset & Nadine Schlatter & Agnes von Wyl & Marion Huber & Thomas Volken, 2020. "Swiss University Students’ Risk Perception and General Anxiety during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-11, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Thomas Barnay & Éric Defebvre, 2019. "Gender Differences in the Influence of Mental Health on Job Retention," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 33(4), pages 507-532, December.
    2. Thomas Barnay, 2016. "Health, work and working conditions: a review of the European economic literature," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 17(6), pages 693-709, July.
    3. Thijs Fassaert & Matty A.S. De Wit & Wilco C. Tuinebreijer & Jeroen W. Knipscheer & Arnoud P. Verhoeff & Aartjan T.F. Beekman & Jack Dekker, 2011. "Acculturation and Psychological Distress Among Non-Western Muslim Migrants - a Population-Based Survey," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 57(2), pages 132-143, March.
    4. Óscar Chiva-Bartoll & Honorato Morente-Oria & Francisco Tomás González-Fernández & Pedro Jesús Ruiz-Montero, 2020. "Anxiety and Bodily Pain in Older Women Participants in a Physical Education Program. A Multiple Moderated Mediation Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-12, May.
    5. Kirsi Talala & Taina Huurre & Hillevi Aro & Tuija Martelin & Ritva Prättälä, 2008. "Socio-demographic Differences in Self-reported Psychological Distress Among 25- to 64-Year-Old Finns," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 86(2), pages 323-335, April.
    6. Mooli Lahad & Ran Cohen & Stratos Fanaras & Dmitry Leykin & Penny Apostolopoulou, 2018. "Resiliency and Adjustment in Times of Crisis, the Case of the Greek Economic Crisis from a Psycho-social and Community Perspective," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 135(1), pages 333-356, January.
    7. Yukari Yokoyama & Kotaro Otsuka & Norito Kawakami & Seiichiro Kobayashi & Akira Ogawa & Kozo Tannno & Toshiyuki Onoda & Yumi Yaegashi & Kiyomi Sakata, 2014. "Mental Health and Related Factors after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(7), pages 1-10, July.
    8. Janneke Pieters & Samantha Rawlings, 2020. "Parental unemployment and child health in China," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 207-237, March.
    9. Salm, Martin, 2009. "Does Job Loss Cause Ill Health?," IZA Discussion Papers 4147, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Salm, M, 2008. "Job loss does not cause ill health," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 08/16, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    11. Concepción Moreno-Maldonado & Antonia Jiménez-Iglesias & Francisco Rivera & Carmen Moreno, 2020. "Characterization of Resilient Adolescents in the Context of Parental Unemployment," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 13(2), pages 681-702, April.
    12. Woorim Kim & Myung Ki & Minjae Choi & Areum Song, 2019. "Comparable Risk of Suicidal Ideation between Workers at Precarious Employment and Unemployment: Data from the Korean Welfare Panel Study, 2012–2017," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-10, August.
    13. Spruit, Anouk & van der Put, Claudia & Gubbels, Jeanne & Bindels, Anner, 2017. "Age differences in the severity, impact and relative importance of dynamic risk factors for recidivism," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 69-77.
    14. Jesús Muyor-Rodríguez & Francisco Caravaca-Sánchez & Juan Sebastián Fernández-Prados, 2021. "COVID-19 Fear, Resilience, Social Support, Anxiety, and Suicide among College Students in Spain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-14, August.
    15. Blight, Karin Johansson & Ekblad, Solvig & Persson, Jan-Olov & Ekberg, Jan, 2006. "Mental health, employment and gender. Cross-sectional evidence in a sample of refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina living in two Swedish regions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(7), pages 1697-1709, April.
    16. Fiorillo, Damiano & Sabatini, Fabio, 2015. "Structural social capital and health in Italy," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 129-142.
    17. Thomas Barnay & Eric Defebvre, 2016. "The influence of mental health on job retention," TEPP Working Paper 2016-06, TEPP.
    18. Moreno-Maldonado, C. & Jiménez-Iglesias, A. & Camacho, I. & Rivera, F. & Moreno, C. & Matos, M.G., 2020. "Factors associated with life satisfaction of adolescents living with employed and unemployed parents in Spain and Portugal: A person focused approach," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    19. Eileen Trzcinski & Elke Holst, 2010. "Interrelationships among Locus of Control and Years in Management and Unemployment: Differences by Gender," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 974, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    20. Eliason, Marcus & Storrie, Donald, 2009. "Job loss is bad for your health - Swedish evidence on cause-specific hospitalization following involuntary job loss," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(8), pages 1396-1406, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:20:p:10888-:d:657998. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.