What factors explain anger and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic? The case of Israeli society

BACKGROUND What factors affected the levels of anger and emotional distress experienced during the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic?We hypothesized that(1)sociodemographic factors and resiliency factors would partially explain psychological distress and anger,with stronger resiliency associated with lower levels of distress and anger;(2)women would report more trust in national leadership,as well as more psychological problems;(3)individuals of low socioeconomic status would report less resiliency,less trust in national leadership,and greater distress than individuals of higher socioeconomic status;and(4)hope would mediate the relationships between the other resiliency factors and both anger and distress.AIM To explore whether community resilience,hope,and trust in leaders were associated with lower levels of anger and emotional distress during the COVID-19 pandemic.METHODS For this observational study,data were gathered in Israel during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic,just before the Jewish New Year(mid-September 2020),as a second lockdown was announced.Data were gathered from 636 Israeli adults,who were recruited by the Midgam research panel.The participants filled out self-reported questionnaires including one on state anger,the Brief Symptom Inventory as a measure of mental-health problems(i.e.,somatization,depression,and anxiety),and questionnaires about trust in the state’s leaders,community resilience(CCRAM),and hope as measures of coping resources and resiliency.t-tests were used to explore differences between men and women and between those of lower and higher socioeconomic status.A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was then used to examine whether and how the sociodemographic and resiliency variables explained state anger and psychological distress.A Sobel test was used to evaluate the possible effects of hope on community resilience and trust in leadership in the context of both distress and anger.RESULTS Our results revealed differences between women and men in terms of anger and mental-health problems,but not in terms of coping resources.Women reported higher levels of both anger and mental-health problems.Participants of lower socioeconomic status reported more mental-health problems,more anger,and greater trust in the state’s leaders;whereas those of higher socioeconomic status reported greater hope.Furthermore,hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that the sociodemographic factors of gender,age,and socioeconomic status,as well as community resilience,trust in the state’s leaders,and hope explained mental health with a total of 19% of the variance and anger with a total of 33% of the variance.The Sobel tests showed that hope mediated the relationships between community resilience and mental health(z=3.46,P<0.001),community resilience and anger(z=2.90,P<0.01),and trust in leaders and anger(z=3.26,P<0.01),but did not affect the relationship between trust in leaders and mental health(z=1.53,P>0.05).CONCLUSION Personal and communal factors affect psychological distress.Personal resilience is an important factor that should be strengthened throughout life.Trust in leadership is important for citizens’mental health.

Control of Corruption,Trust in Government,and Voluntary TaxCompliance in South-West,Nigeria

Tax payers’level of compliance behaviour is a major concern to government and tax authorities.Constant losses of tax revenue through bribery,corruption,and abuse of power for personal advantage are perceived to have adversely affected nation’s economic growth and infrastructural development.Many researches have been conducted on taxpayers’compliance,but not many considered the effect of Control of Corruption(COC)in their study.This study looked at the probable influence of COC on individual taxpayers’voluntary tax compliance behaviour in South-West,Nigeria.Survey research design was adopted for the study.Population for the study was 5,216,422 individual taxpayers in three selected states.A validated questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents by means of Stratified and random sampling techniques with a sample size of 1,200 and this gives a response rate of 87.6%.The reliability test using Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranged from 0.79 to 0.86.The study adopts descriptive and inferential statistics to analyze the data at 0.05 level of significance.The study shows that COC positively influenced voluntary tax compliance among individual taxpayers in the study states(Adj.R2=0.063,F(6,1050)=12.68,p=0.000).There was evidence that trust in government,COC,and employment status have significant relationship with voluntary tax compliance behaviour in the study states(β=0.139,t(1044)=6.125,p=0.000,β=0.154,t(1044)=5.025,p=0.000,β=-0.237,t(1044)=-3.562,p=0.00)while gender,age,and educational level do not have significant relationship with voluntary tax compliance(β=0.036,t(1044)=0.664,p=0.664,β=-0.002,t(1044)=-0.080,p=0.936,β=0.035,t(1044)=1.081,p=0.280),respectively.The study concluded that control of corruption influenced individual voluntary tax compliance.Government should put better stiff strategies in controlling corruption on tax matters,overhaul the internal control mechanism,establish state anti-graft agencies,and put stiff punishment for any fraudulent activity on tax revenue generation while zero tolerance to corruption should be seen and practice.

A Sociological Analysis of the “Strong Central,Weak Local” Pattern of Trust in Government:Based on Three Stage Tracking Data after the Wenchuan Earthquake

Individual and community social capital have had a significant impact on the gap between trust in higher-level governments and trust in local governments.A model including data from thirty villages gathered after the Wenchuan earthquake discovered that ＂the size of the Spring Festival（Chinese New Year） greeting network,＂ ＂the size of the official network at/above township level,＂ and ＂trust in fellow villagers＂ all had a considerable negative effect on the gap between trust in higher-level and local governments.Building individual and community social capital is conducive to establishing a balance between trust in different layers of government;individuals and communities who cooperate with each other have more channels for solving their economic and livelihood issues.Social capital can lead to a significant improvement in the effectiveness of resource matching and utilization involving governments and other sectors of society as well as increasing interaction with government.This can enhance trust in local governments and narrow the gap between trust in higher-level and local governments.