Self-restraint behavior and partisanship during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from a list experiment in Japan

During the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns were considered a critical measure to control the spread of the virus. While Europe and the United States implemented strict lockdowns that restricted movement, Japan adopted a soft lockdown approach which relied on voluntary compliance without any legal enforcement. As a result, some citizens (especially young people) did not comply with the government’s request for voluntary restraint, and were frequently criticized in the media. To address the question of who did not comply with the government’s soft lockdown and why, this study analyzes a list experiment which measured participation in non-essential activities during Japan’s third COVID-19 wave, when economic stimulus policies and COVID-19 suppression measures were simultaneously implemented. The results showed that in particular young citizens who strongly disliked the ruling party did not comply with the government’s requests to stay at home. It is suggested that during a national crisis, the success of policies based on voluntary cooperation depends on citizens’ pre-crisis levels of trust in the government and the ruling parties.