Canadians’ trust in government in a time of crisis: Does it matter?

PLOS ONE RESEARCH ARTICLE Canadians’ trust in government in a time of crisis: Does it matter? Hoda Herati ID1, Kathleen E. Burns1, Maria Nascimento1, Patrick Brown2☯, Michael Calnan3☯, Ève Dubé4☯, Paul R. Ward ID5☯, Eric Filice6‡, Bobbi Rotolo1‡, Nnenna Ike1‡, Samantha B. Meyer ID1* a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 1 School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada, 2 Department of Sociology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 3 School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom, 4 Laval University, Québec, Canada, 5 Research Centre for Public Health, Equity and Human Flourishing, Torrens University, Adelaide, Australia, 6 Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America ☯ These authors contributed equally to this work. ‡ These authors also contributed equally to this work * Abstract OPEN ACCESS Citation: Herati H, Burns KE, Nascimento M, Brown P, Calnan M, Dubé È, et al. (2023) Canadians’ trust in government in a time of crisis: Does it matter? PLoS ONE 18(9): e0290664. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290664 Editor: Emily Lund, The University of Alabama, UNITED STATES Received: March 22, 2023 Accepted: August 11, 2023 Published: September 8, 2023 Copyright: © 2023 Herati et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability Statement: Data cannot be shared publicly because it was not part of our ethics approvals. Data are available from the University of Waterloo Institutional Data Access / Ethics Committee (contact via ) for researchers who meet the criteria for access to confidential data. Funding: This study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Grant #GA3-177730) and the SSHRC Insight Development Grant program (Grant #430-00447-2020). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and The ability of governments and nations to handle crises and protect the lives of citizens is heavily dependent on the public’s trust in their governments and related social institutions. The aim of the present research was to understand public trust in government during a time of crisis, drawing on interview data (N = 56) collected during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021). In addition to the general public (n = 11), participants were sampled to obtain diversity as it relates to identifying as First Nations, Métis, and Inuit (n = 7), LGBT2SQ+ (n = 5), low-income (n = 8), Black Canadians (n = 7), young adult (n = 8), and newcomers to Canada (n = 10). Data were coded in consideration of social theories of trust, and specifically the nature of trust between individuals and institutions working with government in pandemic management. Canadians’ trust in government was shaped by perceptions of pandemic communication, as well as decision-making and implementation of countermeasures. Data suggest that although participants did not trust government, they were accepting of measures and messages as presented through government channels, pointing to the importance of (re)building trust in government. Perhaps more importantly however, data indicate that resources should be invested in monitoring and evaluating public perception of individuals and institutions generating the evidence-base used to guide government communication and decision-making to ensure trust is maintained. Theoretically, our work adds to our understanding of the nature of trust as it relates to the association between interpersonal and institutional trust, and also the nature of trust across institutions. Introduction The ability of governments and nations to handle crises and protect the lives of citizens is heavily dependent on the public’s trust in their governments and related social institutions [1]. PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290664 September 8, 2023 1 / 18 PLOS ONE analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of manuscript. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Canadians’ trust in government in a time of crisis: Does it matter? According to Llewellyn [2], “in times of crisis, trust is the most important thing to consider if you want to communicate health advice.” Indeed, citizens’ willingness to adhere to implemented countermeasures during a pandemic is greatly impacted by their trust in politicians, scientists, and, institutions [1,3]. The aim of the present research was to understand public trust in government during a time of crisis through the analysis of interview data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021). Drawing on social theories of trust, we also speak to the nature of trust in individuals and institutions working with government in pandemic management. Background Trust is said to occur at both institutional and interpersonal levels, with trust in individuals to some extent impacting trust in the organization they represent, though it remains disputed in who or what trust comes first [4]. Herein we focus on institutional trust in government; that is, trust that is based on the perceived beneficence, competence, and integrity of government as an institution [5]. Our focus in the present paper is institutional trust and specifically, that which is placed in government in a time of crisis. Institutional trust has been described as “the extent to which individuals accept and perceive institutions benevolent, competent, reliable, and responsible toward citizens” [6,7]; a definition that points to the dimensions of care and competence as they factor into one’s assessment of whether to trust an institution. Indeed, research has demonstrated that public trust in political institutions, and their representatives, is predicated on public perception that the actions and intentions of these institutions are in the public’s best interest and deliver results that meet their expectations [8–10]. In times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, public trust in government agencies, public health officials, the healthcare system, and their representatives is essential. Public trust in government and medical authorities, for example, has facilitated greater acceptance of public health measures put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19 –e.g., social distancing [11] and vaccine uptake [12,13]. Public policies that are reliant on public cooperation with policymakers are therefore more likely to be successful if the public trust those generating and implementing such policies [14,15]. For example, research suggests that higher trust in government is associated with reduced COVID-19 mortality rates [16]. The association between trust in government and COVID-19 mortality rates is likely me (...truncated)