Moving beyond the Nordic consensus: Discontent and perceptions of reasonableness in COVID-19 restrictions

This study examines public perceptions of the reasonableness of COVID-19 restrictions in the Nordic countries using survey data collected in mid-2022 ( N = 5,674). It investigates how gender, parenthood, institutional trust, fear of illness, and country context were associated with attitudes towards home office mandates, school closures, kindergarten closures, and restrictions on leisure activities. Perceptions were broadly similar across the Nordic countries, although some cross-country differences were observed. Gender differences in pooled adjusted models were modest, but parents often rated school and kindergarten closures as somewhat less reasonable than respondents without children. Institutional trust was consistently associated with higher perceived reasonableness, while fear of illness was also positively associated with support for restrictions. The findings suggest that public support depended not only on policy strictness, but also on trust, fear, and the everyday consequences of specific measures.