TY - JOUR

T1 - Existential insecurity and trust during the COVID-19 pandemic

T2 - The case of Germany

AU - Delhey, Jan

AU - Steckermeier, Leonie C.

AU - Boehnke, Klaus

AU - Deutsch, Franziska

AU - Eichhorn, Jan

AU - Kühnen, Ulrich

AU - Welzel, Christian

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 Peter Ping Li.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - In many, but not all situations it is easier to be trusting from a position of security. This paper addresses trust’s relationship with perceived insecurities induced by the coronavirus pandemic. Looking at social trust (trust in strangers) and institutional trust (trust in the government and in the public health-care system), we explore whether individuals’ trust is negatively or positively associated with economic fears and health fears. Using panel data from Germany for 2020, 2021, and 2022 we find in cross-sectional analysis that institutional trust–but not social trust–is strengthened by health fears and weakened by economic fears. Longitudinal analysis shows that changes in health fears–but not in economic fears–increase social and institutional trust. Our results indicate that only health fears are threatening enough to suspend the otherwise tight-knit syndrome of security and trust.

AB - In many, but not all situations it is easier to be trusting from a position of security. This paper addresses trust’s relationship with perceived insecurities induced by the coronavirus pandemic. Looking at social trust (trust in strangers) and institutional trust (trust in the government and in the public health-care system), we explore whether individuals’ trust is negatively or positively associated with economic fears and health fears. Using panel data from Germany for 2020, 2021, and 2022 we find in cross-sectional analysis that institutional trust–but not social trust–is strengthened by health fears and weakened by economic fears. Longitudinal analysis shows that changes in health fears–but not in economic fears–increase social and institutional trust. Our results indicate that only health fears are threatening enough to suspend the otherwise tight-knit syndrome of security and trust.

KW - COVID-19

KW - economic fears

KW - existential insecurity

KW - health fears

KW - social trust

KW - trust in the government

KW - trust in the health-care system

KW - Politics

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85162122152&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/c24e21b8-817a-396e-a5c6-44cfc5ad049d/

U2 - 10.1080/21515581.2023.2223184

DO - 10.1080/21515581.2023.2223184

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85162122152

VL - 13

SP - 140

EP - 163

JO - Journal of Trust Research

JF - Journal of Trust Research

SN - 2151-5581

IS - 2

ER -