Determinants of the Social Acceptance of COVID-19 Public Health Measures

A Comparison of International Literature and a German Case Study

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world introduced a wide range of public health measures to slow the virus’s spread. The effectiveness of these interventions, however, depends not only on epidemiological factors but also on the extent to which they are socially accepted and followed by the population. This study examines the factors influencing the social acceptance of COVID-19 public health measures. The research is based on a structured literature review synthesizing findings from international empirical studies and is complemented by a questionnaire survey conducted in Germany as a case study (N=100).

The results indicate that the acceptance of public health measures is shaped by a combination of demographic factors (such as age and gender), psychological factors (particularly risk perception), and institutional and political factors (including institutional trust and political orientation). Both the literature review and the case study suggest that measures associated with lower perceived social costs and lower levels of intrusiveness tend to receive broader public support. In contrast, mobility restrictions and digital surveillance technologies more often generate divided public responses.