Systematic Review of The Relationship between Trust in Government and Rumor-related Behavior during The Covid-19
Abstract
This paper conducts a systematic review of articles on trust in government and rumor-related behavior published during the Covid-19 pandemic (2020-2022). This systematic review seeks to answer two questions: first, whether there is a link between trust in government and rumor-related behavior; and second, whether there are any recommendations for the government to reduce the negative impact of rumors and improve government reputation. According to the PRISMA guideline, we chose 11 articles for discussion from the Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science databases. According to the findings, increased trust in government can promote positive health behaviors. Furthermore, we found some suggestions for the government to reduce the negative impact of rumors while maintaining trust levels.
Downloads
References
Allport, G. W., & Postman, L. (1947). The Psychology of Rumor. Russell & Russell Pub.
Bakos, L., Dumitrașcu, D. D., & Harangus, K. (2019). Human Factor Preparedness for Decentralized Crisis Management and Communication in Cyber-Physical Systems. Sustainability, 11(23), 6676. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11236676
Bruns, A., Harrington, S., & Hurcombe, E. (2020). ‘Corona? 5G? or both?’: the dynamics of COVID-19/5G conspiracy theories on Facebook. Media International Australia, 177(1), 12–29. https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878x20946113
Butler, J. Z., Carson, M., Rios-Fetchko, F., Vargas, R., Cabrera, A., Gallegos-Castillo, A., LeSarre, M., Liao, M., Woo, K., Ellis, R., Liu, K., Burra, A., Ramirez, M., Doyle, B., Leung, L., Fernandez, A., & Grumbach, K. (2022). COVID-19 vaccination readiness among multiple racial and ethnic groups in the San Francisco Bay Area: A qualitative analysis. PLOS ONE, 17(5), e0266397. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0266397
Chen, X., Lee, W., & Lin, F. (2022). Infodemic, Institutional Trust, and COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: A Cross-National Survey. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(13), 8033. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19138033
Coombs, W. T. (2015). The value of communication during a crisis: Insights from strategic communication research. Business Horizons, 58(2), 141–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2014.10.003
Dutta, B., Peng, M. H., Chen, C. C., & Sun, S. L. (2022). Role of Infodemics on Social Media in the Development of People’s Readiness to Follow COVID-19 Preventive Measures. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(3), 1347. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031347
Gusenbauer, M., & Haddaway, N. R. (2020). Which academic search systems are suitable for systematic reviews or meta‐analyses? Evaluating retrieval qualities of Google Scholar, PubMed, and 26 other resources. Research Synthesis Methods, 11(2), 181–217. https://doi.org/10.1002/jrsm.1378
Han, Q., Zheng, B., Cristea, M., Agostini, M., Bélanger, J. J., Gützkow, B., Kreienkamp, J., & Leander, N. P. (2021). Trust in government regarding COVID-19 and its associations with preventive health behaviour and prosocial behaviour during the pandemic: a cross-sectional and longitudinal study. Psychological Medicine, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291721001306
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018, March 21). History of 1918 Flu Pandemic. CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-commemoration/1918-pandemic-history.htm
Islam, M. S., Mahmud, R., & Ahmed, B. (2021). Trust in Government during COVID-19 Pandemic in Bangladesh: An Analysis of Social Media Users’ Perception of Misinformation and Knowledge about Government Measures. International Journal of Public Administration, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2021.2004605
Jennings, W., Stoker, G., Bunting, H., Valgarðsson, V. O., Gaskell, J., Devine, D., McKay, L., & Mills, M. C. (2021). Lack of Trust, Conspiracy Beliefs, and Social Media Use Predict COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy. Vaccines, 9(6), 593. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9060593
Juanchich, M., Sirota, M., Jolles, D., & Whiley, L. A. (2021). Are COVID‐19 conspiracies a threat to public health? Psychological characteristics and health protective behaviours of believers. European Journal of Social Psychology, 51(6), 969–989. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2796
Melki, J., Tamim, H., Hadid, D., Makki, M., el Amine, J., & Hitti, E. (2021). Mitigating infodemics: The relationship between news exposure and trust and belief in COVID-19 fake news and social media spreading. PLOS ONE, 16(6), e0252830. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252830
Meuer, M., & Imhoff, R. (2021). Believing in hidden plots is associated with decreased behavioral trust: Conspiracy belief as greater sensitivity to social threat or insensitivity towards its absence? Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 93, 104081. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2020.104081
Moher, D. (2009). Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement. Annals of Internal Medicine, 151(4), 264. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-151-4-200908180-00135
Osborne, C. (2020, May 5). 5G mast arson, coronavirus conspiracy theories force social media to walk a fine censorship line. ZDNet. https://www.zdnet.com/article/amid-5g-mast-arson-and-coronavirus-conspiracy-theories-social-media-walks-a-fine-line/
Paek, H., & Hove, T. (2019). Mediating and Moderating Roles of Trust in Government in Effective Risk Rumor Management: A Test Case of Radiation‐Contaminated Seafood in South Korea. Risk Analysis, 39(12), 2653–2667. https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.13377
Pertwee, E., Simas, C., & Larson, H. J. (2022). An epidemic of uncertainty: rumors, conspiracy theories and vaccine hesitancy. Nature Medicine, 28(3), 456–459. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01728-z
Pickles, K., Copp, T., Meyerowitz-Katz, G., Dodd, R. H., Bonner, C., Nickel, B., Steffens, M. S., Seale, H., Cvejic, E., Taba, M., Chau, B., & McCaffery, K. J. (2022). COVID-19 Vaccine Misperceptions in a Community Sample of Adults Aged 18–49 Years in Australia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(11), 6883. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19116883
Pickles, K., Cvejic, E., Nickel, B., Copp, T., Bonner, C., Leask, J., Ayre, J., Batcup, C., Cornell, S., Dakin, T., Dodd, R. H., Isautier, J. M. J., & McCaffery, K. J. (2021). COVID-19 Misinformation Trends in Australia: Prospective Longitudinal National Survey. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(1), e23805. https://doi.org/10.2196/23805
Roozenbeek, J., Schneider, C. R., Dryhurst, S., Kerr, J., Freeman, A. L. J., Recchia, G., van der Bles, A. M., & van der Linden, S. (2020). Susceptibility to misinformation about COVID-19 around the world. Royal Society Open Science, 7(10). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.201199
Segrave, M., Wickes, R., & Keel, C. (2021). Migrant and Refugee Women in Australia: The Safety and Security Study. Monash University. https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2021-06/apo-nid313003.pdf
Tan, E. Y., Albarazi, D., Saw, Y. E., Buvanaswari, P., Doshi, K., & Liu, J. C. (2021). Confidence in government and rumors amongst migrant worker men involved in dormitory outbreaks of COVID-19: A cross-sectional survey. Journal of Migration and Health, 4, 100069. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmh.2021.100069
Tanaka, Y., Sakamoto, Y., & Matsuka, T. (2012). Transmission of Rumor and Criticism in Twitter after the Great Japan Earthquake. Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 2387–2392. https://ssrn.com/abstract=2150290
Tasnim, S., Hossain, M. M., & Mazumder, H. (2020). Impact of Rumors and Misinformation on COVID-19 in Social Media. Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, 53(3), 171–174. https://doi.org/10.3961/jpmph.20.094
Veil, S. R., Dillingham, L. L., & Sloan, A. G. (2016). Fencing out the Jones’s: The Development of Response Strategies for Spillover Crises. Corporate Reputation Review, 19(4), 316–330. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41299-016-0010-3
World Health Organization. (2022, May 1). WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard. WHO. https://covid19.who.int
Wonodi, C., Obi-Jeff, C., Adewumi, F., Keluo-Udeke, S. C., Gur-Arie, R., Krubiner, C., Jaffe, E. F., Bamiduro, T., Karron, R., & Faden, R. (2022). Conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 in Nigeria: Implications for vaccine demand generation communications. Vaccine, 40(13), 2114–2121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.02.005
Zhang, L., Chen, K., Jiang, H., & Zhao, J. (2020). How the Health Rumor Misleads People’s Perception in a Public Health Emergency: Lessons from a Purchase Craze during the COVID-19 Outbreak in China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(19), 7213. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17197213
Zimand-Sheiner, D., Levy, S., & Eckhaus, E. (2021). Exploring Negative Spillover Effects on Stakeholders: A Case Study on Social Media Talk about Crisis in the Food Industry Using Data Mining. Sustainability, 13(19), 10845. https://doi.org/10.3390/su131910845















