Trust appears to be at an all-time low, especially at the institutional level. A 2025 Pew Research Center survey found that only 17% of Americans trust the federal government to do the right thing all of or most of the time. In 2024, that figure was at 22%, in 2007 it was hovering around 30%, and way back in 1958, a startling 73% considered the government highly trustworthy. Declining institutional trust across the board—whether regarding science, educational systems, news, or the Supreme Court—does not come as a surprise to many of us. Encouragingly, we seem to be aware of this shortcoming. The Pew Research Center also reported that nearly two-thirds of Americans agreed it is important to increase trust in the government and that greater trust is crucial to addressing the nation’s issues.

           The implications of trust are far-reaching, affecting our broader relationships and our daily lives. Bi et al.’s 2025 meta-analysis featuring over 2.5 million participants worldwide found that higher trust, both regarding other people and institutions, is consistently linked to increased contentment in life and greater well-being. Moreover, longitudinal research suggests that harboring greater trust both leads people to be happier and that being happier results in expressing greater trust. Trust is integral to our broader systems; indeed, countries with higher levels of trust also boasted heightened economic growth and greater political participation.

Interpersonal vs. Institutional Trust

           In conceptualizing institutional trust, it is important to note that psychologists generally distinguish between trust on an interpersonal versus an institutional level. Interpersonal trust is defined as our willingness to be vulnerable and dependent in social situations, both in our stances toward others (i.e., Do we deem them trustworthy?) and how we actually conduct ourselves during these encounters. Institutional trust, on the other hand, is defined as our faith that organizations are competent, dependable, and act in ways that serve our best interests.

           While interrelated, people’s levels of interpersonal and institutional trust fluctuate dramatically across the globe, reflecting very different societal structures. In societies featuring stricter social norms or tighter regulations, people may rely more on embedded institutional trust to govern their stances toward others. Meanwhile, in societies with less prescribed behavioral codes, interpersonal trust, or lack thereof, more heavily affects how people interact. Importantly, interpersonal and societal-level trust are linked. Spadaro et al. (2020) found that investing greater trust in institutions like the government also resulted in participants feeling greater trust toward strangers. As an explanation, they suggested that higher institutional trust increases people’s overall sense of order in the world, providing a safety net that enables them to be less guarded around others.

Factors Underlying Institutional Trust

           What factors damage institutional trust, and how can trust be rebuilt? According to a 2021 UN policy brief by Jonathan Perry, one of the primary factors underlying institutional trust is economic security. This relationship where institutional trust was heavily related to the economy was found across many nations and seems to involve both the psychological and materialistic factors that accompany financial stability. Going back to our definition of institutional trust, public confidence is predicated on an institution’s ability to deliver on its promises. It is no surprise, perhaps, that trust in government is stronger when people feel their needs are met and that strengthening social services increases institutional trust. These findings can be examined through the lens of Rousseau’s Social Contract: people entrust power to the government with the expectation that it will competently serve its people. Meanwhile, financial turmoil breeds uncertainty and distrust; to illustrate, the 2008 financial crisis precipitated sharp declines in government trust in countries like Greece and Spain. Institutional trust can be increased by displaying efficient governmental organization and practicing fiduciary responsibility, and clearly communicating these measures to the public. Ultimately, when the economy is strong, people give the government more credit and trust it more.

           Institutional trust, however, is an abstract concept that rests on much more than just financial conditions. More values-driven, less materialistic factors also shape our levels of institutional trust. Psychologist and law professor Tom R. Tyler has extensively studied how legal systems derive legitimacy. He found that these systems gain legitimacy, meaning people respect their authority and voluntarily comply with the law, when procedural justice is high. When people perceive institutions’ decision-making processes to be fair, they are more likely to accept and trust the systems, regardless of whether they agree with the outcomes themselves. On the flipside, when people feel that treatment is biased, institutions like the police can quickly lose their credibility. Unsurprisingly, corruption severely undercuts institutional legitimacy; moreover, when public officials behave in dishonest ways, people’s trust at the institutional and interpersonal levels both decline. This was illustrated in Rothstein and Eek’s 2009 experiment, during which 146 Swedish and Romanian undergraduate students read scenarios of people whose job it was to serve society (either doctors or police officers) being offered bribes. They found that when these fictional characters accepted the bribes, participants’ faith in society took a hit, and participants judged neutral citizens in the scenarios to also be less trustworthy.

           Beyond universal principles like integrity, institutional trust also heavily hinges on sociocultural influences, namely personal and group identity. People trust organizations more when they feel like the people in power listen to their concerns and reflect who they are. The social groups we belong to powerfully influence how inclined we are to trust various organizations and comply with various policies. Dal & Tokdemir illustrated this regarding ethnic and political group identity. In a 2020 study of 1,816 people in Turkey, the researchers found that participants who identified with the Kurdish ethnic minority group or opposition parties expressed lower behavioral intentions of following the government’s campaign to get vaccinated, a relationship that was mediated by institutional trust (Dal & Tokdemir, 2022).

           As Dal & Tokdemir’s study showed, institutional trust is vital to maintaining a healthy, productive society. Without public trust, institutions are unable to effectively carry out their duties, which can beget more distrust in a ruthless self-fulfilling prophecy. We live in the Information Age where, all too frequently, misinformation disseminated online and through social media platforms breeds skepticism. This was especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, during which mistrust surrounding health mandates contributed to polarization and even open defiance, leading many more people to fall sick. To rebuild trust, organizations should transparently communicate with the public and seek to address voices on both sides of heated divides. Extra effort should be made to listen to and to rebuild trust with groups who feel skeptical due to feeling unheard or marginalized.

​Takeaways

           Overall, institutional trust has sparked significant contemporary discussion, and for good reason. The good news is that throughout our institutions, actionable steps can be taken to increase our collective faith in the system. Legislation that bolsters social services and strengthens economic stability is key to establishing a sense of security that, in turn, leads people to believe the government is deserving of their trust. Transparent communication with the public that highlights the government’s effectiveness and competency also increases trust. By working together to increase procedural fairness throughout our institutions, reduce bias, and include marginalized voices, we can build a more just society that inspires confidence from all groups.

References

American Psychological Association. (2025, June 12). Trust in others, institutions boosts well-being [Press release]. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2025/06/trust-subjective-well-being

Bi, S., Maes, M., Stevens, G. W., de Heer, C., Li, J. B., Sun, Y., & Finkenauer, C. (2025). Trust and subjective well-being across the lifespan: A multilevel meta-analysis of cross-sectional and longitudinal associations. Psychological Bulletin.

Dal, A., Tokdemir, E. Social-Psychology of Vaccine Intentions: The Mediating Role of Institutional Trust in the Fight Against Covid-19. Polit Behav 44, 1459–1481 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-022-09793-3

Deane, C. (2024, October 17). Americans’ deepening mistrust of institutions. The Pew Charitable Trusts. https://www.pew.org/en/trend/archive/fall-2024/americans-deepening-mistrust-of-institutions

Perry, J. (2021, July 20). Trust in public institutions: Trends and implications for economic security. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. https://social.desa.un.org/publications/trust-in-public-institutions-trends-and-implications-for-economic-security

Rothstein, B., & Eek, D. (2009). Political Corruption and Social Trust: An Experimental Approach: An Experimental Approach. Rationality and Society, 21(1), 81-112.

Spadaro, G., Gangl, K., Van Prooijen, J. W., Van Lange, P. A. M., & Mosso, C. O. (2020). Enhancing feelings of security: How institutional trust promotes interpersonal trust. PloS one, 15(9), e0237934. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237934

Sunshine, J., & Tyler, T. R. (2003). The Role of Procedural Justice and Legitimacy in Shaping Public Support for Policing. Law & Society Review, 37(3), 513–548. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1555077

Tyler, T. R. (2003). Procedural justice, legitimacy, and the effective rule of law. Crime and justice, 30, 283-357.

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (2021, July 20). Trust in public institutions: Trends and implications for economic security. https://social.desa.un.org/publications/trust-in-public-institutions-trends-and-implications-for-economic-security