What determines political trust during the COVID-19 crisis? The role of sociotropic and egotropic crisis impact

Abstract

ABSTRACT The pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus has led to changes in all areas of public and private life. This study explores if it has also affected trust in political institutions. As early research suggests that trust is associated with governments’ responses to the pandemic, citizens’ health behaviours, public compliance with regulations, and overall levels of COVID-19 mortality, it is important to understand what drives citizens’ trust during the crisis. Using high-quality data from the German GESIS Covid-19 Special Survey, we analyse predictors of institutional trust at the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. We pay specific attention to the effect of sociotropic and egotropic impact of the crisis. We find that on the societal level, the intensity of the health threat, but not policy responses, are linked to trust, while on the individual level, employment in a “critical occupation” and individual family situations matter. We argue that in the ongoing management of the crisis, consequences for specific groups of citizens, such as families, need to be considered.