The role of collectivism, liberty, COVID fatigue, and fatalism in public support for the zero-COVID policy and relaxing restrictions in China

BACKGROUND: China was the last country in the world to relax COVID-19 restrictions.

A successful public health policy requires public support.

This analysis examined the factors associated with Chinese support for zero-COVID and relaxing COVID-19 restrictions in China.

METHOD: Two online surveys were conducted among Chinese participants in mainland China on June 10–13 (N = 460) and December 2, 2022 (N = 450).

These two samples were similar based on the participants’ demographics.

RESULTS: The results revealed that the perceived health consequences of a COVID-19 policy, perceived norms of approving a COVID-19 policy, and hope positively predicted the participants’ support for the COVID-19 policy.

The results further showed that collectivism and fatalism positively predicted support for zero-COVID and negatively predicted support for relaxing restrictions.

COVID fatigue was negatively associated with support for zero-COVID and positively associated with support for relaxing restrictions.

Liberty positively predicted support for relaxing restrictions in June and negatively predicted zero-COVID in December 2023.

It did not positively or negatively predict support for the policy adopted by the government.

CONCLUSION: Collectivism, liberty, COVID fatigue, and fatalistic beliefs are important considerations connected to public support for a COVID-19 policy.

The role of liberty was more nuanced and depended on the survey’s time and whether the government adopted the policy.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-024-18331-1.