Public health and public trust: Survey evidence from the Ebola Virus Disease epidemic in Liberia
Trust in government has long been viewed as an important determinant of citizens' compliance with public health policies, especially in times of crisis. Yet evidence on this relationship remains scarce, particularly in the developing world. We use results from a representative survey conducted...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier BV
2020
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/128734 |
| _version_ | 1826211637651046400 |
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| author | Blair, Robert A. Morse, Benjamin Sherman Tsai, Lily L. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Political Science |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Political Science Blair, Robert A. Morse, Benjamin Sherman Tsai, Lily L. |
| author_sort | Blair, Robert A. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Trust in government has long been viewed as an important determinant of citizens' compliance with public health policies, especially in times of crisis. Yet evidence on this relationship remains scarce, particularly in the developing world. We use results from a representative survey conducted during the 2014–15 Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) epidemic in Monrovia, Liberia to assess the relationship between trust in government and compliance with EVD control interventions. We find that respondents who expressed low trust in government were much less likely to take precautions against EVD in their homes, or to abide by government-mandated social distancing mechanisms designed to contain the spread of the virus. They were also much less likely to support potentially contentious control policies, such as “safe burial” of EVD-infected bodies. Contrary to stereotypes, we find no evidence that respondents who distrusted government were any more or less likely to understand EVD's symptoms and transmission pathways. While only correlational, these results suggest that respondents who refused to comply may have done so not because they failed to understand how EVD is transmitted, but rather because they did not trust the capacity or integrity of government institutions to recommend precautions and implement policies to slow EVD's spread. We also find that respondents who experienced hardships during the epidemic expressed less trust in government than those who did not, suggesting the possibility of a vicious cycle between distrust, non-compliance, hardships and further distrust. Finally, we find that respondents who trusted international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) were no more or less likely to support or comply with EVD control policies, suggesting that while INGOs can contribute in indispensable ways to crisis response, they cannot substitute for government institutions in the eyes of citizens. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for future public health crises. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:09:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/128734 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:09:09Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | Elsevier BV |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1287342022-09-29T13:04:10Z Public health and public trust: Survey evidence from the Ebola Virus Disease epidemic in Liberia Blair, Robert A. Morse, Benjamin Sherman Tsai, Lily L. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Political Science Trust in government has long been viewed as an important determinant of citizens' compliance with public health policies, especially in times of crisis. Yet evidence on this relationship remains scarce, particularly in the developing world. We use results from a representative survey conducted during the 2014–15 Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) epidemic in Monrovia, Liberia to assess the relationship between trust in government and compliance with EVD control interventions. We find that respondents who expressed low trust in government were much less likely to take precautions against EVD in their homes, or to abide by government-mandated social distancing mechanisms designed to contain the spread of the virus. They were also much less likely to support potentially contentious control policies, such as “safe burial” of EVD-infected bodies. Contrary to stereotypes, we find no evidence that respondents who distrusted government were any more or less likely to understand EVD's symptoms and transmission pathways. While only correlational, these results suggest that respondents who refused to comply may have done so not because they failed to understand how EVD is transmitted, but rather because they did not trust the capacity or integrity of government institutions to recommend precautions and implement policies to slow EVD's spread. We also find that respondents who experienced hardships during the epidemic expressed less trust in government than those who did not, suggesting the possibility of a vicious cycle between distrust, non-compliance, hardships and further distrust. Finally, we find that respondents who trusted international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) were no more or less likely to support or comply with EVD control policies, suggesting that while INGOs can contribute in indispensable ways to crisis response, they cannot substitute for government institutions in the eyes of citizens. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for future public health crises. 2020-12-04T22:04:30Z 2020-12-04T22:04:30Z 2017-01 2016-10 2020-06-15T15:43:15Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0277-9536 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/128734 Blair, Robert A. et al. "Public health and public trust: Survey evidence from the Ebola Virus Disease epidemic in Liberia." Social Science & Medicine 172 (January 2017): 89-97 © 2016 Elsevier Ltd en http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.11.016 Social Science & Medicine Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ application/pdf Elsevier BV SSRN |
| spellingShingle | Blair, Robert A. Morse, Benjamin Sherman Tsai, Lily L. Public health and public trust: Survey evidence from the Ebola Virus Disease epidemic in Liberia |
| title | Public health and public trust: Survey evidence from the Ebola Virus Disease epidemic in Liberia |
| title_full | Public health and public trust: Survey evidence from the Ebola Virus Disease epidemic in Liberia |
| title_fullStr | Public health and public trust: Survey evidence from the Ebola Virus Disease epidemic in Liberia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Public health and public trust: Survey evidence from the Ebola Virus Disease epidemic in Liberia |
| title_short | Public health and public trust: Survey evidence from the Ebola Virus Disease epidemic in Liberia |
| title_sort | public health and public trust survey evidence from the ebola virus disease epidemic in liberia |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/128734 |
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