Trust and Approaches to its Measurement: Economic, Social and Cultural Context

Globalisation and trust in Europe between 2002 and 2018

Based on individual-level data from 2008 Afro-barometer survey, this study explores the relationship between religion (religious affiliation and religious importance) and trust (interpersonal and institutional) among Ghanaians. Employing hierarchical multiple regression technique, our analyses reveal a positive relationship between religious affiliation and both measures of trust among Ghanaians. A positive relationship between Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Pentecostal/Evangelical faiths and interpersonal trust compared to non/traditional religion are detected. The data also reveal that upon controls, only Catholic and Pentecostal/Evangelical show significant positive effect on institutional trust among Ghanaians compared to non/traditional religion. It is worth noting that religious importance does not significantly predictor of neither interpersonal nor institutional trust among Ghanaians. The overall effect of religion on trust is weak, and weaker for institutional trust. Most of the difference relates to the difference between world religions and traditional religions. Place of residence, political affiliation, region of residence, ethnicity, and education are significant nonreligious predictors of both institution and interpersonal trust among Ghanaians. The findings further show that whereas age significantly influences only interpersonal trust, gender, life satisfaction, media exposure, sense of corruption, and sense of unfair treatment are significant factors molding institutional trust among Ghanaians. Policy implications of the study are discussed, emphasizing the need to incorporate religious organizations in efforts aimed at boosting interpersonal and institutional trust among Ghanaians. Religious-specific trust promotion program is suggested as possible strategy likely to succeed in Ghana. The need for more detailed studies in this important but ignored area is emphasized.

Introduction to Special Issue: Trust in Doubt: Consuming in a Post-Truth World

The state of (mis) trust: Human-centered technology development & implementation in intensive mental health settings

While many agree that interpersonal and institutional trust are key ingredients for social order, the differences between the two and how they influence one another remain unclear. We define trust as the willingness to be vulnerable to another party, and focus our discussion on situations where the trustor (trusting party) is an individual member of the public and the trustee (party being trusted) is an institution or one of its members. We review the literature on trust and related concepts that address the potential relationships between interpersonal trust and institutional trust, focusing on two illustrative contexts: the political arena and health care. For each context, we examine extant research to provide definitions of institutions and note how these definitions have implications for defining institutional trust in each context. Second, we examine how characteristics of the trustor (individual-level characteristics) may affect the relationship between interpersonal and institutional trust. For example, a trustor’s gender, race and ethnicity, and familiarity with the institutional trustee may frame his/her interactions with, and subsequently their trust in, the institution. Being cognizant of these factors will improve understanding of the cases where a relationship between interpersonal and institutional trust exists. We conclude by highlighting how these arguments can inform future research.

Trust is an essential element for effective social cohesion and a correct expression of the principles of representative democracy. In many countries of the Western world, we are witnessing the advance of anti-establishment political movements and a steady decline of trust in institutions. Crisis, perception of crisis, climate of opinion around it have an impact on political attitudes and diversified feelings (interest, trust, resentment), on political participation and on voting. Social analysts are called to deepen the reasons for the variability of these phenomena according to socio-cultural contexts and individual characteristics. The main aim of this paper is to analyse: (1) if and how much the spread of trust in institutions is different among the EU citizens and (2) what are the determinants of trust, deepening the intensity and the direction of the relationships with subjective and objective indicators. Our purpose is to outline the differences among the EU countries regarding trust in national and international institutions, simultaneously considering macro (country) and micro (individual) level of analysis by using a multilevel approach. The empirical analysis is based on the data collected by European Social Survey (ESS-Round 8) in 2016 (microdata) and on some variables (macrodata) taken from other statistical sources (Eurostat, Transparency International). The sample of individuals counts about 37 thousand subjects. Data analysis includes the construction of synthetic indices, using appropriate synthesis methods, and the identification of the determinants of Trust in Institutions, considering both micro and macro level explanatory variables, resorting to Multilevel Regression.

This article examines the determinants of trust in religious institutions in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia — three countries with low levels of religiosity as measured by attendance, prayer and fasting, yet high levels of trust in religious institutions. The analysis employs individual-level survey data and uses ordinary least squares regression to show that while religious practices do not determine trust in religious institutions, the importance of religion in one's daily life is a strong indicator of trust in religious institutions in each country. The results also show some differences among these countries with regard to two types of control variables — trust in secular institutions and socioeconomic factors. In Georgia, interpersonal trust is a significant indicator of trust in religious institutions. Residence in the capital is only significant in Azerbaijan. Finally, both education and age are significant in Armenia. Additionally, two theories of trust in institutions are tested. First, a cultural theory of interpersonal trust proves ambiguous in the region. Second, the presence of both low religious practice and high trust in religious institutions in these countries challenges reformulated secularization theories that consider declining religious authority — measured by trust in religious institutions — as a form of secularization.

Different roles of interpersonal trust and institutional trust in COVID-19 pandemic control

BackgroundVaccine hesitancy is driven by a heterogeneous and changing set of psychological, social and historical phenomena, requiring multidisciplinary approaches to its study and intervention. Past research has brought to light instances of both interpersonal and institutional trust playing an important role in vaccine uptake. However, no comprehensive study to date has specifically assessed the relative importance of these two categories of trust as they relate to vaccine behaviors and attitudes.MethodsIn this paper, we examine the relationship between interpersonal and institutional trust and four measures related to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and one measure related to general vaccine hesitancy. We hypothesize that, across measures, individuals with vaccine hesitant attitudes and behaviors have lower trust—especially in institutions—than those who are not hesitant. We test this hypothesis in a sample of 1541 Canadians.ResultsA deficit in both interpersonal and institutional trust was associated with higher levels of vaccine hesitant attitudes and behaviors. However, institutional trust was significantly lower than interpersonal trust in those with high hesitancy scores, suggesting that the two types of trust can be thought of as distinct constructs in the context of vaccine hesitancy.ConclusionsBased on our findings, we suggest that diminished institutional trust plays a crucial role in vaccine hesitancy. We propose that this may contribute to a tendency to instead place trust in interpersonally propagated belief systems, which may be more strongly misaligned with mainstream evidence and thus support vaccine hesitancy attitudes. We offer strategies rooted in these observations for creating public health messages designed to enhance vaccine uptake.

Currently, we frame individuals online as in a series of exchanges with specific firms, and privacy, accordingly, is governed to ensure trust within those relationships. However, the focus on the relationship between consumers and specific firms does not capture how the online environment behaves. The aggregation and secondary use of consumer data is performed by market actors behind the scenes without any relationship with consumers. Trusting a single firm is not enough; individuals must trust the online market in general. Such institutional trust has gone under-examined in regards to privacy online. Little has been done to measure how aggregating and using consumer data supports a larger online market and impacts institutional trust online. This paper explores how privacy governance should also be framed as protecting a larger market to ensure consumers trust being online. In a series of studies, I empirically examine (a) how typical secondary uses are judged along a generalized (for the good of the market) versus reciprocal (for the good of the consumer) exchange and impact institutional and consumer trust, and (b) whether governance mechanisms (limitations on the use of data such as adequate notice, auditing, non-identifiable information, limited storage, etc.) increase consumer trust in companies. I find: • Respondents find secondary uses of consumer data more appropriate if judged more within a generalized exchange (academic research) or within a reciprocal exchange (product search results) or both (credit security). However, most secondary uses of data are deemed privacy violations and decrease institutional trust online. • Using privacy notices is the least effective governance mechanism of those included here whereas being subject to an audit was as effective as using anonymized data in improving consumer trust. • Institutional trust online impacts a consumer’s willingness to engage with a specific online partner in a trust game experiment The findings have implications for public policy and practice. Secondary uses of information online need not only be justified in a simple quid-pro-quo exchange with the consumer but could also be justified as appropriate for the online context within a generalized exchange. However, the majority of secondary uses currently popular cannot be justified as within either a general exchange or a reciprocal exchange and are judged inappropriate, violations of privacy, and decrease both interpersonal and institutional trust. Second, if privacy violations hurt not only interpersonal consumer trust in a firm but also institutional trust online, then privacy would be governed similar to insider trading, fraud, or bribery — to protect the integrity of the market. Punishment for privacy violations would be set to ensure bad behavior is curtailed and institutional trust is maintained rather than to remediate a specific harm to an individual.

Objective: Based on the embeddedness theory, the present study aimed to investigate the association between patients' trust in family doctors (Interpersonal Trust), trust in community health centers (Institutional Trust), and trust in society as a whole (Social Trust). Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in six community health centers from February to April 2022 in Wuhan, China. Structural equation modeling through partial least squares method (PLS-SEM) was employed to assess the reliability and validity of the multidimensional trust scales and test the study hypotheses. Results: 228 valid questionnaires were collected and the scores of Interpersonal Trust, Institutional Trust, and Social Trust were 3.761, 3.636, and 3.635, respectively. Through PLS-SEM, the study outcomes substantiated hypotheses that Interpersonal Trust has a positive effect on Institutional Trust (β = 0.916, p < 0.001), Institutional Trust has a positive effect on Social Trust (β = 0.617, p < 0.001), Institutional Trust has a positive effect on Interpersonal Trust (β = 0.864, p < 0.001) and Social Trust has a positive effect on Institutional Trust (β = 0.784, p < 0.001). However, the relationship between Interpersonal Trust and Social Trust were not demonstrated. Conclusions: This study provides a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between family doctors and patient trust. By adopting the lens of embeddedness theory, we reveal positive correlations between Social Trust and Institutional Trust, as well as between Institutional Trust and Interpersonal Trust. Moreover, we have identified Institutional Trust as a crucial mediating factor between Interpersonal Trust and Social Trust. However, to further enhance the validity of our findings, future research should conduct longitudinal studies to examine trust development over time, and develop more comprehensive measures to capture the multidimensional nature of trust accurately. Keywords: Family doctors; doctor – patient relationship; embeddedness theory; trust model.

Patients' trust in healthcare providers and institutions has been identified as a likely contributor to racial-ethnic health disparities. The likely influence of patients' cultural characteristics on trust is widely acknowledged but inadequately explored. To compare levels of patients' trust in primary care provider (interpersonal trust) with trust in healthcare organizations (institutional trust) among older American Indians (AIs), and determine associations with cultural identity. Patient survey administered following primary care visits. Two-hundred and nineteen American Indian patients ≥ 50 years receiving care for a non-acute condition at two clinics operated by the Cherokee Nation in northeastern Oklahoma. Self-reported sociodemographic and cultural characteristics. Trust was measured using three questions about interpersonal trust and one measure of institutional trust; responses ranged from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Finding substantial variation only in institutional trust, we used logistic generalized estimating equations to examine relationships of patient cultural identity with institutional trust. Ninety-five percent of patients reported trusting their individual provider, while only 46 % reported trusting their healthcare institution. Patients who strongly self-identified with an AI cultural identity had significantly lower institutional trust compared to those self-identifying less strongly (OR: 0.6, 95 % CI: 0.4, 0.9). Interpersonal and institutional trust represent distinct dimensions of patients' experience of care that may show important relationships to patients' cultural characteristics. Strategies for addressing low institutional trust may have special relevance for patients who identify strongly with AI culture.

ObjectivesTo explore relationship among perceived stress regarding loneliness, interpersonal trust and institutional trust of expatriates during the early COVID-19 period (from 30th March to 30th May 2020).MethodsData from 21,439 expatriates were extracted from COVIDiSTRESS global survey. The outcome variable was perceived stress. The explanatory variables were age, perceived loneliness, trust (interpersonal and institutional). Pairwise correlation, and structural equation modelling were used to determine relationship among outcome and explanatory variables.ResultsThe majority of the expatriates were female (73.85%), married (60.20%), had college degree (47.76%), and employed (48.72%). Over 63% of the total expatriates reported that the COVID-19 pandemic changed their lives. The average age of the respondents was 40.4 years (± 13.7), and the average score of perceived stress, loneliness, interpersonal and institutional trust were 25.5, 7.4, 14.2 and 40.4, respectively. We found a moderate correlation of perceived stress with age, perceived loneliness, interpersonal trust and institutional trust (p < 0.001). They were also found moderately related to each other. Structural equation modelling evaluated that a lack of trust can cause loneliness among expatriates, which later lead to perceived stress. Interpersonal trust was more likely to be associated with stress than institutional trust, whereas perceived loneliness mediated between both trusts and perceived stress.ConclusionPerceived stress can be reduced through trusting others and alleviating the loneliness. Making strong linkage among migrants as well as between migrants and local community is important to ensure proper mental wellbeing of expatriates.

Interpersonal trust is an important source of social and economic development. Over decades, researchers debated the question whether and how public institutions influence interpersonal trust, making this relationship a much-discussed issue for scientific debate. However, experimental and behavioral data and insights on this relationship and the underlying psychological processes are rare and often inconsistent. The present set of studies tests a model which proposes that institutional trust indirectly affects trust among unrelated strangers by enhancing individuals’ feelings of security. Study 1 (survey on trust in a broad spectrum of state institutions), Study 2 (nationally representative data from 16 countries), and Study 3 (experimental manipulation of institutional trust) provide convergent support for this hypothesis. Also, the results show that the effect remains consistent even after controlling for individual dispositions linked to interpersonal and institutional trust (Study 1 and 3) and country level indicators of institutional performance (Study 2). Taken together, these findings inform and contribute to the debate about the relationship between institutions and interpersonal trust by showing that when institutions are trusted, they increase feelings of security, and therefore promote interpersonal trust among strangers.

Interpersonal trust is an important source of social and economic development. Over decades, researchers debated the question whether and how public institutions influence interpersonal trust, making this relationship a much-discussed issue for scientific debate. However, experimental and behavioral data and insights on this relationship and the underlying psychological processes are rare and often inconsistent. The present set of studies tests a model which proposes that institutional trust indirectly affects trust among unrelated strangers by enhancing individuals' feelings of security. Study 1 (survey on trust in a broad spectrum of state institutions), Study 2 (nationally representative data from 16 countries), and Study 3 (experimental manipulation of institutional trust) provide convergent support for this hypothesis. Also, the results show that the effect remains consistent even after controlling for individual dispositions linked to interpersonal and institutional trust (Study 1 and 3) and country level indicators of institutional performance (Study 2). Taken together, these findings inform and contribute to the debate about the relationship between institutions and interpersonal trust by showing that when institutions are trusted, they increase feelings of security, and therefore promote interpersonal trust among strangers.