The causes of perceived government trustworthiness
The causes of perceived government trustworthiness
This paper examines the qualities of governments that influence their perceived
trustworthiness, presenting the first experimental study of the distinct roles of ‘competence’, ‘benevolence’, and ‘integrity’ (CBI) in shaping trust in government. We empirically test the effects of these three dimensions of trustworthiness through conjoint experiments conducted in five countries: Britain, Croatia, Spain, Argentina, and France. The results indicate that benevolence – government acting in citizens’ interests – is the most significant determinant of trust judgments across individuals and nations. Competence and integrity have a secondary, approximately equal effect. Building on recent advances in analyses of conjoint experiments, we explore how these attributes are conditional on each other, and how respondent characteristics moderate those effects. The findings reveal that the effects of attributes are generally consistent, although respondent left-right ideology moderates the impact of government competence.
Devine, Daniel
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Valgarðsson, Viktor Orri
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Jennings, Will
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Bunting, Hannah
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Stoker, Gerry
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Devine, Daniel
6bfa5a27-1b58-4c61-8eb0-a7a40860a4ae
Valgarðsson, Viktor Orri
8f30ca41-f763-4cd2-9b08-1b4ff7ab27d9
Jennings, Will
2ab3f11c-eb7f-44c6-9ef2-3180c1a954f7
Bunting, Hannah
4ee490b1-eea7-4f65-bffa-fd840ed9f6e1
Stoker, Gerry
209ba619-6a65-4bc1-9235-cba0d826bfd9
Devine, Daniel, Valgarðsson, Viktor Orri, Jennings, Will, Bunting, Hannah and Stoker, Gerry
(2024)
The causes of perceived government trustworthiness.
European Journal of Political Research.
(In Press)
Abstract
This paper examines the qualities of governments that influence their perceived
trustworthiness, presenting the first experimental study of the distinct roles of ‘competence’, ‘benevolence’, and ‘integrity’ (CBI) in shaping trust in government. We empirically test the effects of these three dimensions of trustworthiness through conjoint experiments conducted in five countries: Britain, Croatia, Spain, Argentina, and France. The results indicate that benevolence – government acting in citizens’ interests – is the most significant determinant of trust judgments across individuals and nations. Competence and integrity have a secondary, approximately equal effect. Building on recent advances in analyses of conjoint experiments, we explore how these attributes are conditional on each other, and how respondent characteristics moderate those effects. The findings reveal that the effects of attributes are generally consistent, although respondent left-right ideology moderates the impact of government competence.
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Accepted/In Press date: 8 October 2024
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Local EPrints ID: 495602
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/495602
ISSN: 0304-4130
PURE UUID: 8a28290a-7c33-4b8b-8ec4-bb25d231d789
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Date deposited: 19 Nov 2024 17:37
Last modified: 20 Nov 2024 03:00
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Author:
Daniel Devine
Author:
Hannah Bunting
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