Determinants of trust in times of crises: A cross-sectional study of 3,065 German-speaking adults from the D-A-CH region

Eva S Schernhammer; Jakob Weitzer; Emilie Han; Martin Bertau; Lukas Zenk; Guido Caniglia; Manfred D Laubichler; Brenda M Birmann; Gerald Steiner

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0286488

Determinants of trust in times of crises: A cross-sectional study of 3,065 German-speaking adults from the D-A-CH region

PLoS One. 2023 Oct 12;18(10):e0286488. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0286488. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Eva S Schernhammer^{1

2

3}, Jakob Weitzer^{1

4}, Emilie Han¹, Martin Bertau^{5

6

7}, Lukas Zenk⁸, Guido Caniglia⁹, Manfred D Laubichler^{3

10

11}, Brenda M Birmann², Gerald Steiner^{3

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
² Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States of America.
³ Complexity Science Hub Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
⁴ Department of Health Promotion and Prevention, Federal Ministry of the Republic of Austria for Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection, Vienna, Austria.
⁵ Institute of Chemical Technology, Freiberg University of Mining and Technology, Freiberg, Germany.
⁶ Fraunhofer Institut für Keramische Technologien und Systeme IKTS, Fraunhofer Technologiezentrum für Hochleistungsmaterialien THM, Freiberg, Germany.
⁷ Saxonian Academy of Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
⁸ Department of Knowledge and Communication Management, Faculty of Business and Globalization, University for Continuing Education Krems, Krems an der Donau, Austria.
⁹ Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg, Austria.
¹⁰ Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States of America.
¹¹ Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, United States of America.

Abstract

Interpersonal trust declined worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic; strategies are needed to restore it. We surveyed 3,065 quota-sampled German-speaking adults residing in the D-A-CH region. Using multinomial logistic regression models and backward elimination for variable selection, we calculated multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) to appraise correlates of interpersonal trust using the Interpersonal Trust Short Scale (KUSIV3). Participants with high levels of interpersonal trust (top KUSIV3 tertile (T3)) tended to be older, male, residents of Switzerland, university degree holders, and workers with higher income and work satisfaction (all Pdiff<0.01) compared to those in the lowest KUSIV3 tertile (T1). Optimism was most strongly associated with high interpersonal trust (ORT3vsT1 = 5.75, 95%CI = 4.33-7.64). Also significantly associated with high interpersonal trust were: Having voted in the last national election (for the opposition, OR = 1.39, 95%CI = 1.02-1.89 or the governing party, OR = 1.61, 95%CI = 1.23-2.11) versus non-voters; perspective taking (ORT3vsT1 = 1.46, 95%CI = 1.11-1.91); being more extraverted (ORT3vsT1 = 1.99, 95%CI = 1.53-2.59) and more agreeable (ORT3vsT1 = 1.95, 95% CI = 1.46-2.61); and scoring higher on complexity thinking (ORT3vsT1 = 1.32, 95%CI = 1.01-1.72). Participants scoring significantly lower for interpersonal trust did not regularly participate in religious meetings (OR = 0.61, 95%CI = 0.44-0.84, versus participation at least monthly); were more conscientious (ORT3vsT1 = 0.68, 95%CI = 0.51-0.91) or current smokers (OR = 0.68; 95%CI = 0.53-0.87, versus never smoking); had sleep problems >5 times a week (OR = 0.48; 95%CI = 0.36-0.66, versus none); and scored high on conspiracy belief (ORT3vsT1 = 0.53; 95%CI = 0.41-0.69). Results differed minimally by gender and country. These findings may be helpful in devising targeted strategies to strengthen interpersonal trust and social engagement in European societies, especially during times of crises.

Copyright: © 2023 Schernhammer 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.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
COVID-19* / epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Male
Pandemics
Smoking
Trust*

Grants and funding

Funds were received from the Medical University of Vienna, Department of Epidemiology, Danube University Krems, Department for Knowledge and Communication Management; Austrian Society of Epidemiology. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.