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Week 1: Conceptualizing TrustBackground:
● There is a growing need for trust because society is becoming more dynamic,
uncertain, and chaotic.
● People need a sense of safety, hence, the need for trust is high.
● Society is built on trust.
○ Democracy would not exist if there was no trust.
● Organizations cannot fulfill their role (in society) without trust.
● But:
○ A growing level of distrust in Society:
■ Trust is NOT a given anymore
Trust:
● Is an interaction imperative => Necessary for interactions and communication.
● Greater trust is good for social relationships and for exchange.
● Globalized world => More generalized interpersonal trust is necessary.
● Elements of Trust:
○ A truster
○ A trustee
○ An expected behavior
● Importance of Trust:
○ Essential for institutions and the economy.
○ Trust in the economy: Improves economic processes; Low trust -> more
deviations -> ex: Mafia-like practices.
○ Necessary to build a civil society and a sustainable democracy.
○ Concepts related to organizational trust:
■ Legitimacy, reputation, credibility, ethics, compliance, etc
○ How do organizations gain trust?
■ STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION.
● Trust in Institutions = SOCIETAL EXPECTATIONS
Role of the Media in Trust/ Importance of the Media Environment:
● There is a strong link between media and political trust.
● Media are the window through which we understand the world around us.
● There are 2 ways to view media:
1. As an organization
, 2. As a platform
● Both are important for democracy
Crisis of Trust:
● Where multiple organizations are simultaneously no longer trusted to meet
expectations. A spiral of increased distrust and an information ecosystem challenged
by the constant fear of misinformation creates a downward trajectory that challenges
the functioning of organizations.
● Flew (2019):
○ indicates that there is a general crisis of trust that is underlying societal
challenges.
○ Factors underpinning the rise of populism:
1. Mediatization
2. Rise of Fake News:
a. Sometimes people have a lot of political and economic gains
from spreading fake news.
b. Social media acts as a catalyst for fake news.
3. Platformisation of the Internet and Rise of Social News:
a. Platformisation leads to a network monopoly => fewer voices
are heard..?
b. With the rise of social news -> more alternative/skeptical
sources (ex: conspiracy theorists) and partisan news is also
rising.
4. The Crisis of Institutional Trust:
a. Institutions failing societal expectations
b. Lower trust in Digital Platforms
● All of this leads to a SPIRAL OF DISTRUST.
● Conclusion: This crisis of trust creates a favourable environment for populist
movements.
● The Alarmed Citizen (Thorbjornsrud & Figenshou, 2022):
○ Alarmed citizens-> indication of the Crisis of Trust.
○ This is obviously not good because trust is a prerequisite for modern
democracies.
○ Media plays a role in this.
■ Media have a democratic role in keeping citizens informed.
■ Thus, there is a high level of dependency that involves the risk of being
misled.
■ Low trust in the media is associated with:
● Low political trust
● Rise of populist movements
● Anti-immigration attitudes
● Polarization
, ● Right-wing party identification
● Socio-demographics: Young, low income and education.
● CUMULATIVE RESULT: Use of ALTERNATIVE SOURCES
○ Characteristics of the Alarmed Citizens:
■ Low institutional and media trust
■ High in alertness and fear
■ Actively scrutinize institutions
■ Challenge the role of the established media as an authoritative expert.
■ More reliance on nonprofessional and alternative media.
● Issue with alternative media: They are often associated with
being hyper-partisan, manipulative and fake.
○ Conclusions:
■ Trust is not a given anymore.
■ Citizens are more critical and cynical.
■ More room for scrutinizing established institutions.
■ Expert institutes that used to be trusted, are now facing more
challenges to fulfill their societal role.
● Misinformation as a Context (Altay et al., 2023)
○ People are repeatedly warned about misinformation.
■ Leads to a LOT of FEAR.
● This, in turn, creates a context of distrust.
■ Thus, misinformation fear FEEDS the crisis of trust.
■
■ The study suggests that people are more likely to be uninformed than
misinformed, indicating a lack of trust in reliable sources.
■ Trust in the media is low, and trust in information encountered on
social media is even lower, contributing to the spread of
misinformation.
■ People deploy various strategies to detect and counter misinformation,
indicating a skeptical stance toward information sources.
, ■ The study highlights the need to focus on enhancing trust in reliable
sources as a priority over fostering distrust in unreliable sources.
■ Misinformation can exacerbate the crisis of trust by creating confusion
and eroding trust in reliable information.
Week 2: Introduction to Organizational (Dis)Trust
Defining and Distinguishing Trust and Distrust
Trust Distrust
Two Approaches can be used to define trust: Two approaches to define Distrust:
A. Intentions and Motives of the other A. Absence of Trust (so, exact opposite
party in social exchanges: of trust):
● Trust as “an individual’s ● Distrust as the opposite end
confidence about the good of the same conceptual
intentions of the other party continuum as trust.
and the belief that the other ● Trust and distrust are
party will behave as one considered perfect substitutes
hopes” and are mutually
B. Behavior or Conduct of the Other EXCLUSIVE.
Party: B. Distinct Expectations:
● Trust as “an individual’s a. Distrust as a “positive
optimistic expectations of the expectation of injurious
behaviors of another action” and trust as a positive
individual” expectation of a virtuous
But, balance is important/ already exists action.
when approaching trust. b. Trust as “confident positive
expectations regarding
another’s conduct and
distrust as confident negative
expectations regarding
another’s conduct.
c. Offers a more balanced
view..?
d. Ex: You can trust a brand for
the quality of their products,
but not for their compliance
to CSR standards.
Related to: Related to:
● Positive attributes ● Negative attributes
● Openness ● Agent pursues self-interest with
● Competence guile.
● Reliance on the predictability of ● Discredibility
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