Constructed Recognition: How Nationalism Influences Public Acceptance of Domestic COVID-19 Vaccines in China

Abstract

Background Despite numbers of vaccine scandals and the potential side effects, COVID-19 vaccines have gained widespread acceptance in China. The purpose of the study was to explain why the support of vaccines is so high in China. Methods Based on existing literature, we proposed hypotheses from three aspects: self-interests, altruism and nationalism. Adopting data from a survey conducted in May of 2021, we used ordered logit regression models to examine the three explanations. Moreover, we explored how individuals’ trust in domestic scientists influences their assessment of the quality of COVID-19 vaccines. Results A total of 2038 participants completed our questionnaire online (females = 48.72%). The statistical results shows that the self-interest and altruism can partially explain public’s positive opinions toward COVID-19 vaccines. And the main finding of this paper is that the nationalistic values are important sources of their acceptance of the vaccines, for the Chinese government has further strengthened the linkage between the vaccine and patriotism. Trust in scientists, as an extension of nationalism, is another important motivation of vaccine acceptance in China, for the reputations of these experts are deliberately shaped by the government. Conclusion This paper finds that citizens’ high recognition of domestic vaccines is a derivative of nationalistic ideology, which implies that public’s attitudes toward vaccines are consciously constructed by the Chinese government.

Policy Endorsement and Booster Shot: Exploring Politicized Determinants for Acceptance of a Third Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine in China

“…Overall, our study revealed a nationalistically shaped mental world underlying our respondents’ intention to take a booster shot against COVID-19. This is consistent with several recent studies highlighting the role of nationalism/loyalty to the state in shaping Chinese respondents’ preventive behaviors against the pandemic [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 35 ]. To a certain degree, it is also consistent with findings on the role of cultural cognition in predicting policy compliance [ 48 , 49 ].…”

“…The main theoretical contribution of this paper is that it reveals an alternative landscape regarding the determinants of people’s willingness to vaccinate. This study expanded the existing body of literature that explores the politicization of the Chinese public’s attitude towards and intention for COVID-19 vaccination [ 13 , 16 , 35 , 39 ]. The second contribution is that it shows that the influence of the policy itself can affect the public attitudes.…”

“…On the other hand, politicized factors have been found to drive people’s attitudes towards COVID-19 prevention and vaccinations worldwide. Whereas ideology and partisanship were regular variables used in the West to examine political determinants [ 11 , 12 ], in China, constructs measuring people’s recognition of the state have been identified to robustly link to their preventive behaviors and vaccination intention [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. Due to the strong influence of these constructs—which were often conceptualized using nationalism—in the highly politicized COVID-19 fight in China, it is necessary to test the role of political determinants underlying Chinese people’s intention to take booster shots against COVID-19.…”

“…On top of these factors, we investigated the role of political factors in influencing respondents’ intention to take booster shots, which was the central task of the current study. For this task, we first examine nationalism, which, as mentioned above, has been repeatedly found to be linked to people’s intention to take preventive measures and vaccination and their acceptance of mandatory vaccination policies [ 13 , 15 , 16 , 35 ]. Nationalism represents one’s embracing of his/her government/state.…”