Which Trust, Which Compliance?

Trust shapes policy compliance during crises, yet studies have paid little attention to the dimensions of trust, the types of policy, and how they can vary. Using the 2021 China General Social Survey, this study explores how multiple dimensions of trust (trust in the health system, trust in the government, and social trust) associate with compliance with different policy types (high-risk voluntary policy and low-risk regulatory policy) during the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that all three trust dimensions have significant positive associations with aggregate compliance levels, with effect size variations across policy types. The associations also have marked regional variation; and internet use enhances the impact of government trust and social trust on policy compliance. This study provides empirical evidence from an authoritarian state and offers valuable implications for future emergency management in the developing world.