Factors Associated With Support for COVID-19 Travel Bans: The Role of Health Beliefs and Multilevel Institutional Trust

Abstract

This study examined whether the Health Belief Model and the heuristic of multilevel institutional trust would help explain U.S. residents’ support for travel bans on foreigners during the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysis of data collected from two nationwide online surveys conducted in 2020 ( n = 511 fielded between March 19 and March 27; n = 472 fielded between April 30 and May 13) suggested that support for this policy was associated with individual differences in risk and benefit perceptions, the presence of interpersonal cues, and trust in domestic and foreign institutions. Efforts to promote or resist international travel restrictions during a pandemic may benefit from accounting for these differences.