Many citizens distrust powerful societal institutions, and hold conspiracy theories about them. What are the implications of this suspicion of institutions for people’s social relationships? The current paper proposes that institutions have at least two functions to regulate citizens’ social relationships: providing people with a sense of safety, and providing models for group norms and values. Suspicion of institutions undermines both of these functions, and therefore yields a range of negative societal outcomes by impacting people’s interpersonal, within-group, and between-group relationships. More specifically, suspicion of institutions reduces trust between strangers, within-group cooperation, commitment, and prosocial behavior, and increases prejudice, intergroup conflict, polarization, and extremism. We conclude that institutional distrust and conspiracy theories erode the fabric of society.

许多公民不信任强大的社会机构，并对它们持有阴谋论。这种对制度的怀疑对人们的社会关系有何影响？目前的论文提出，制度至少有两个功能来规范公民的社会关系：为人们提供安全感，以及为群体规范和价值观提供模型。对制度的怀疑破坏了这两种功能，因此通过影响人们的人际关系、群体内部和群体之间的关系，产生了一系列负面的社会结果。更具体地说，对制度的怀疑会降低陌生人之间的信任、群体内的合作、承诺和亲社会行为，并增加偏见、群体间冲突、两极分化和极端主义。