Trust in social institutions: The role of informational and personal uncertainty

Abstract

In this chapter, I focus on trust in social institutions such as government, law, and science. I propose that one of the reasons trust in these institutions is decreasing is that many people experience several personal uncertainties. Personal uncertainty can be an alarming experience, making people start responding in more distrusting ways toward those who have power over them and can exclude them from important goods or relationships. Providing good, reliable, and accessible information about how the institutions actually work can help mitigate this process. However, judgments about the working of social institutions are often formed under conditions of high levels of informational uncertainty. This analysis has implications for the science and practice of trust in institutions and the associated constructs of personal and informational uncertainty.