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Enhancing feelings of security: How institutional trust promotes interpersonal trust.

ABSTRACT: Interpersonal trust is an important source of social and economic development. Over decades, researchers debated the question whether and how public institutions influence interpersonal trust, making this relationship a much-discussed issue for scientific debate. However, experimental and behavioral data and insights on this relationship and the underlying psychological processes are rare and often inconsistent. The present set of studies tests a model which proposes that institutional trust indirectly affects trust among unrelated strangers by enhancing individuals' feelings of security. Study 1 (survey on trust in a broad spectrum of state institutions), Study 2 (nationally representative data from 16 countries), and Study 3 (experimental manipulation of institutional trust) provide convergent support for this hypothesis. Also, the results show that the effect remains consistent even after controlling for individual dispositions linked to interpersonal and institutional trust (Study 1 and 3) and country level indicators of institutional performance (Study 2). Taken together, these findings inform and contribute to the debate about the relationship between institutions and interpersonal trust by showing that when institutions are trusted, they increase feelings of security, and therefore promote interpersonal trust among strangers.

SUBMITTER: Spadaro G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7486136 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Enhancing feelings of security: How institutional trust promotes interpersonal trust.

Spadaro Giuliana G Gangl Katharina K Van Prooijen Jan-Willem JW Van Lange Paul A M PAM Mosso Cristina O CO

PloS one 20200911 9

Interpersonal trust is an important source of social and economic development. Over decades, researchers debated the question whether and how public institutions influence interpersonal trust, making this relationship a much-discussed issue for scientific debate. However, experimental and behavioral data and insights on this relationship and the underlying psychological processes are rare and often inconsistent. The present set of studies tests a model which proposes that institutional trust ind ...[more]

PMID: 32916694

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Project description:BackgroundResearch on parent-level factors linked to adolescent attachment security would inform interventions to prevent or reduce youth psychopathology and other negative outcomes. The current study examined one relevant parent-level variable: maternal interpersonal problems. Interpersonal problems, a key characteristic of personality pathology, are well described by the interpersonal circumplex (IPC) and have been shown to be associated with maladaptive adult attachment in close/romantic relationships; however, studies have not examined relationships with offspring attachment. Therefore, the first aim of the current study was to examine the relationship between maternal interpersonal problems and adolescent attachment insecurity. Based on previous evidence that parents' recalled bonding with caregivers is associated with the quality of bonding and attachment with offspring, the second aim was to examine whether mothers' recalled bonding with their own mothers partially explained this relationship.MethodsParticipants included 351 psychiatric inpatient adolescents (Mage = 15.26, 64.1% female) and their biological mothers. Logistic regressions tested whether maternal interpersonal problems were associated with Child Attachment Interview classifications (secure vs. insecure; secure vs. preoccupied vs. dismissing; not disorganized vs. disorganized). A mediation model (N = 210) tested whether the relationship between maternal interpersonal problems and adolescent attachment was mediated by the mother's recalled maternal bonding.ResultsMaternal interpersonal problems were associated with insecure (vs. secure), dismissing (vs. secure), and preoccupied (vs. secure) attachment. There was no significant relationship between maternal interpersonal problems and disorganized attachment. Mediation analyses showed that maternal interpersonal problems were indirectly related to adolescent attachment security via the mother's recalled maternal care, though only a small amount of variance (7%) in adolescent offspring attachment was accounted for by the model.ConclusionsResults provide the first evidence that maternal interpersonal problems are associated with higher likelihood of insecure attachment in adolescents. Therefore, researchers could consider drawing upon the IPC literature to further examine mechanisms of intergenerational risk and to tailor interventions aimed to improve parent-child relations and attachment. Additionally, findings highlight the mediating role of the mothers' recalled experiences with caregivers in the transmission of risk, suggesting attachment-based or mentalization-based interventions may be helpful for mothers with interpersonal problems and personality pathology.

Dataset Information

Enhancing feelings of security: How institutional trust promotes interpersonal trust.

Publications

Enhancing feelings of security: How institutional trust promotes interpersonal trust.

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