Trust in Others and Trust in Government

I have written before on the diminishing level of trust reported by the US public in key institutions.

A new Pew Research Center report on trust  updates some existing measures and adds some new ones.

The overall level of trust in institutions seems quite similar to prior measured levels. Things don’t look like they’re getting dramatically better.  Interestingly, however, only a minority of respondents report that lack of confidence is a “top-tier” problem facing the country. The issues garnering widespread views as top tier problems are things like drug addiction, health care coast, ethics in government, and affordability of education. On the other hand, a majority of people report that the greater lack of trust in government makes it difficult to solve a whole host of commonly mentioned problems faceting the nation (e.g., health care, immigration, climate issues). Over 2/3 report they believe the government intentionally withholds important information from the public, which could be safely released. Further, those who believe this trend to report less trust of the federal government. In speculating how could trust be rebuilt, calls for greater transparency commonly are mentioned.

What was interesting in the new report are measures of interpersonal trust. Do we have trust and confidence in one another? A majority believe that Americans have too little trust in other another, and that that makes it harder to address real problems facing the country. When asked why they believe we trust one another less than earlier, they speculate that how media treats negative news or list a set of societal problems that indirectly promote distrust. About 10% say that Americans have become more “lazy, greedy, and dishonest.”

Trust seems highly correlated to age, with older adults usually expressing more trust in institutions and groups (e.g., military, scientists, religious leaders). It’s also true that more of those with higher educational attainment report trust in others.

On the hopeful side, the findings show that people have faith in others doing the “right thing,” but the percentage is deeply dependent on what issue is being considered. For example, over ¾ believe others will report a serious problem to local authorities or will obey federal and state law, but less than half believe others cast well-informed votes in elections or have civil conversations with people with views different from their own.

There is good news in that a vast majority (over 90%) of people believe it’s important to raise the level of confidence Americans have in the Federal government. Similar results pertain to interpersonal trust. In speculating on what could be done to improve our level of confidence in one another, they often point to the role that local communities can play in trust-building.

Finally, it seems that perceived levels of interpersonal trust are related to trust in the federal government; the two tend to go hand in hand.

Although only a minor finding of the work, the notion that smaller communities may be the source of rebuilding trust is intriguing. The finding fits other work that trust requires long term reciprocated acts of benefit among actors. With the shared knowledge that is common in smaller groups, transparency is easier to attain. I could imagine followup studies to ask the question about whether those of us who enjoy trusting relationships in smaller groups, tend to more easily hold or regain trust in societal-level entities like the federal government. Greater insight into how trust in institutions can be rebuilt would benefit us all.