Exploring the Relationship between Government Decision Transparency and UU Students’ Endorsement of Covid-19 Measures

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the impact of two types of transparency, namely decision process and decision rationale transparency, on the endorsement of Covid-19 measures. A survey was conducted among Dutch students from Utrecht University, providing them with information about a hypothetical new Covid-19 variant and ten measures that had been implemented by the government to combat it. The survey then assessed their endorsement of these measures. The respondents were assigned to four groups, receiving decision process, decision rationale, both, or no transparency manipulations. A repeated measures ANOVA compared the groups on Covid measure endorsement, and looked into their response patterns across the ten measures. The results indicated that the transparency manipulations did not have a significant effect, either individually or in interaction with each other, on the Covid measure endorsement. However, an interesting finding emerged regarding one specific measure: the communication about (booster) vaccination for students and staff. Contrary to expectations, lower endorsement was observed in conditions where decision process transparency was provided, compared to conditions where it was not. This study underscores the need for further investigation to determine the existence of the transparency effect and its specific contextual factors. Lastly, suggestions for improvements in future research are made.