Can Warm Behavior Mitigate the Negative Effect of Unfavorable Governmental Decisions on Citizens’ Trust?

For decades, scholars have discussed how to build greater citizen trust in government. I hypothesize that to increase trust in government, we should consider whether decisions made in bureaucrat–citizen encounters (e.g. applications for welfare benefits) are favorable to citizens. Building on insights from social psychology, I argue that in cases where citizens are presented with unfavorable decisions (e.g. rejection of applications), public employees can mitigate the negative impact on trust in government by appearing warm and friendly in the decision-making process. The argument is tested in a large-scale randomized survey experiment on a representative sample of Danish citizens, where I manipulate decision favorability and warmth. The findings reveal that outcome favorability and warmth strongly influence citizens’ trust in government.

Being Consistent Matters: Experimental Evidence on the Effect of Rule Consistency on Citizen Red Tape

A growing stream of research in public administration is concerned with how red tape and administrative burden affects citizens. Drawing on the procedural fairness literature, we argue that the consistent application of rules reduces perceived red tape. We also hypothesize that red tape perceptions are affected by outcome favorability and that an interaction effect exists between consistency and outcome favorability. Our reasoning is tested with a survey experiment in the context of a federal jury duty summons procedure, and administered to a sample of U.S. citizens through TurkPrime. The statistical results support our hypotheses; perceived red tape is lower if rules are applied consistently and if citizens receive a favorable outcome. We also find that consistently applying a procedure reduces perceived red tape further when citizens receive a favorable outcome. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.

Economic Outcomes, Quality of Governance, and Satisfaction with Democracy

This chapter investigates the impact of economic outcomes and quality of government on political support, arguing that the effect of economic performance is contingent on the quality of government. This hypothesis is derived from procedural fairness theories in organizational psychology according to which procedural fairness moderates the effects of outcome favorability on support for authorities. The chapter develops and tests the hypotheses that citizens’ political support is most affected by economic outcomes in those countries where the quality of government is lowest. In contrast, in contexts of high quality of government, political support is expected to be less sensitive to short-term economic fluctuations. Using ESS data and aggregate indicators of economic performance, the chapter finds that in countries where the quality of government is high, the impact of economic indicators is marginal, but where the quality of government is low, political support is quite sensitive to economic outcomes.

Abilities of a Densitometric Analysis of Computed Tomography Images and Hemorrhagic Parameters to Predict Outcome Favorability in Patients With Intracerebral Hemorrhage

BACKGROUND Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is one of the most devastating subtypes of stroke. A rapid assessment of ICH severity involves the use of computed tomography (CT) and derivation of the hemorrhage volume, which is often estimated using the ABC/2 method. However, these estimates are highly inaccurate and may not be feasible for anticipating outcome favorability. OBJECTIVE To predict patient outcomes via a quantitative, densitometric analysis of CT images, and to compare the predictive power of these densitometric parameters with the conventional ABC/2 volumetric parameter and segmented hemorrhage volumes. METHODS Noncontrast CT images of 87 adult patients with ICH (favorable outcomes = 69, unfavorable outcomes = 12, and deceased = 6) were analyzed. In-house software was used to calculate the segmented hemorrhage volumes, ABC/2 and densitometric parameters, including the skewness and kurtosis of the density distribution, interquartile ranges, and proportions of specific pixels in sets of CT images. Nonparametric statistical analyses were conducted. RESULTS The densitometric parameter interquartile range exhibited greatest accuracy (82.7%) in predicting favorable outcomes. The combination of skewness and the interquartile range effectively predicted mortality (accuracy = 83.3%). The actual volume of the ICH exhibited good coherence with ABC/2 (R = 0.79). Both parameters predicted mortality with moderate accuracy (<78%) but were less effective in predicting unfavorable outcomes. CONCLUSION Hemorrhage volume was rapidly estimated and effectively predicted mortality in patients with ICH; however, this value may not be useful for predicting favorable outcomes. The densitometric analysis exhibited significantly higher power in predicting mortality and favorable outcomes in patients with ICH.

Roles of instrumental and noninstrumental voice in members' reactions toward interorganizational committees

Interorganizational committees make decisions that apply to various organizations and their members are representatives of these organizations. This paper examines how interorganizational committee membersʼ perceptions of noninstrumental voice, instrumental voice, and decision outcome favorability are related to their committee identification, helping behavior, and perception of go-along-to-get-ahead political behavior. Questionnaire data from 197 Pennsylvania tax collection committee members were analyzed with regression. Of primary interest, perceived instrumental voice had a unique relationship with all three committeereferenced reactions, while perceived noninstrumental voice was not uniquely related to any of them. These results suggest that interorganizational committee members react to voice for instrumental reasons related to perceived influence over other members rather than noninstrumental reasons concerning their committee status.