Polling Data Limitations in Understanding Public Support for COVID-19 Lockdown Policies

Release Date: July 7, 2021: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210678

Explanation

There are studies that show that public support for the COVID-19 initiative has remained high throughout the first year of the pandemic in most of the world, according to polls conducted for the initiative. However, there is a risk that headline support may oversimplify people's views.

In the United Kingdom, where we took an open sample (N= 212), we examine the factors that contribute to support for the blockade policy. While the majority of people support the public health measures being introduced, they also note the significant side effects of the measures, and the cost-benefit analysis shows that they consider many of these side effects unacceptable.

We also found that people judge the threat of COVID-19 by the intensity of the policy response and adapt this to their personal lives, not closing others off and leading them to support the policy.

This polling data is not indicative of the ambiguity that many people feel about blockade policies as it provides a simple perspective. There is a meaningful risk that public opinion and government policy will form a symbiotic relationship, which will affect how effectively such policies are currently implemented.