People's Trust in Authorities as a Phenomenon of Parasocial Relations in Modern Russian Society

The article features the concept of trust as a phenomenon of parasocial relations. Parasocial relationship is one-sided because its object is sometimes unaware of its subject. The phenomenon of people's trust in social institutions still remains largely understudied. The research was based on the sociocognitive approach developed by R. Falcone and C. Castelfranchi and the theory of social representations by S. Moscovici and D. Jodelet. In Russia, population's trust in authorities has always been low, and the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting it even more. The study revealed two forms of institutional trust, one based on social relations and the other based on parasocial relations. The institutional trust in modern Russia combines social and parasocial forms. They are closely interconnected, and the first can transform into the second. The deficit of social relations between Russian population and authorities in the conditions of declining institutional trust may lead to their replacement by less stable parasocial relations.

Well-Being and the Pandemic: Trust in People Matters More Than Trust in Institutions

Trust is an important correlate of well-being, and it plays an important moderating role against adversity. But does this conclusion also hold during pandemics? We address this question by investigating the role of interpersonal and institutional trust for well-being, as measured by five proxies, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia. We also examined age and gender differences in the relationship between trust and well-being, and tested the protective role of trust among individuals whose well-being might be at risk during the pandemic. The sample included a total of 5776 Serbian adults ( Mage = 37.00 years, 75% female). The results showed that interpersonal trust has a small but significant relationship with well-being, whereas institutional trust has negligible effects. We also found some evidence for the protective role of general interpersonal trust on well-being among individuals with poorer self-rated health and in a poorer financial situation. Our findings confirm the role of interpersonal trust for well-being in times of crisis, and support previous evidence indicating that promoting interpersonal trust should be a core goal of public policy.

"In others we trust": Finland and Norway – High Trust Societies in the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the Covid-19 pandemic, trust has been identified as a key mechanism in pandemic containment. Norway and Finland, two Nordic countries with high trust scores, are cited as best-practice examples. In a qualitative research project on the theoretical construct of caring economics conducted by the author, the deep societal anchoring of trust and integrity has been confirmed in both countries. Based on the empirical example of the Nordic countries, the concept of caring economics emphasizes partnerism and thereby the real wealth of nations. Dugnad/Dugnadsånd, which refers to collective effort, is a trust-based Norwegian type of commons and commoning that can be regarded as an intersection with caring economics. Dugnad/Dugnadsånd integrates the various notions of interpersonal, system, and institutional trust, and thus widely supports mechanisms of pandemic control.

Women’s Representation and Implications for Fairness, Trust, and Performance in Local Government: A Survey Experiment in Sri Lanka

How do quotas for women in Sri Lanka’s local government institutions affect key governance indicators such as perceived fairness, institutional trust, and perceived performance? These dimensions of governance are underexplored in the context of gender quota policies in patriarchal societies like that of Sri Lanka. The study hypothetically varied the quota provision for women (decrease to 10%, increase to 45%, or keep at the current 25%) in local government, and then tried to understand people’s opinions about the three governance indicators. When examining the results of the experiment (around 1,200 samples), it was found that perceived fairness, institutional trust, and perceived performance increased along with the greater quota provision. Possible mechanisms for the increases in institutional trust and perceived performance may be associated with the signal of fairness generated by the increase of quota provision for women.

Covid-19 Vaccines and Institutional Trust

Major public and private laboratories entered into a race to find an effective Covid-19 vaccine. With the arrival of the vaccines, governments have to implement vaccination programs to achieve the necessary immunization levels to prevent further transmission of the disease. In this context, the ethical dilemma of compulsory vaccination vs. voluntary vaccination has been raised. Underlying this dilemma lies the problem of the ethical models on which the political decisions of governments in health matters based. The chapter proposes and argues the need to base health policy decisions on an ethical “first person” model, based on personal responsibility, that allows us to move from a normative ethic to an ethic of responsible behavior. This change in the ethical model, together with certain proposals for political action, will help us to restore institutional trust, so that the necessary levels of collective immunity against Covid-19 can be achieved through the voluntary vaccination of the citizens.

Democratic Constitutions, Electoral Commissions and Legitimacy – The Example of Australia

This article explores the structure, management and institutional design of commissions in Australia and unpacks how these institutions operate within the Australian political landscape. Part 1 looks at the structure of Australian electoral commissions and how they maintain structural independence. Part 2 seeks to better understand Australian electoral institutions, through an examination of how they have manoeuvred administrative and political challenges and emergencies when they have arisen. Finally, Part 3 employs a neo-institutionalist lens to focus on the internal and external dynamics that assist or hinder the operation of commissions in Australia and how legitimacy and institutional trust can be created, maintained and harmed by electoral agencies in the Australian context.

To Be (Vaccinated) or Not to Be: The Effect of Media Exposure, Institutional Trust, and Incentives on Attitudes toward COVID-19 Vaccination

The COVID-19 vaccine has become a strategic vehicle for reducing the spread of the pandemic. However, the uptake of the vaccine by the public is more complicated than simply making it available. Based on social learning theory, this study examines the role of communication sources and institutional trust as barriers and incentives as motivators of people’s attitudes toward vaccination and actual vaccination. Data were collected via an online panel survey among Israelis aged 18–55 and then analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings show that social media trust negatively mediates the effect of exposure to information on the vaccine on attitudes toward vaccination. However, mass media trust and institutional trust positively mediate this relationship. Incentives were effective motivators for forming positive attitudes and moderating the effect of institutional trust on attitude toward vaccination. This study facilitates a deeper understanding of health communication theory in pandemics and makes important recommendations for practitioners and policy makers.