Abstract

A central argument in the performance-trust literature is that the performance of public service delivery shapes citizen trust in government. However, studies have failed to address to what extent single interactions with public employees affect citizen trust in government. Building on insights from social psychology, this article argues that citizens spontaneously make impressions of the warmth (e.g., friendliness) and competence (e.g., effectiveness) of the public employee with whom they interact. Utilizing two large-scale randomized survey experiments, conducted in Denmark and the United States, this study demonstrates that impressions of warmth and competence in a concrete interaction with a public employee have important effects on general trust in civil servants. The findings further provide evidence that a single case experience can have implications for trust in broader administrative and political institutions of government. Thus, this article shows that even a single bureaucratic encounter can potentially have wide-ranging implications.

摘要

绩效信任文献中的一个核心论点是，公共服务提供的绩效塑造了公民对政府的信任。然而，研究未能解决与公职人员的单一互动在多大程度上影响公民对政府的信任。本文基于社会心理学的见解，认为公民会自发地对与他们互动的公职人员的热情（例如友善）和能力（例如效率）产生印象。利用在丹麦和美国进行的两项大规模随机调查实验，本研究表明，在与公职人员的具体互动中，热情和能力的印象对公务员的普遍信任有重要影响。研究结果进一步提供了证据，表明单一案例经验可能会对更广泛的政府行政和政治机构的信任产生影响。因此，本文表明，即使是一次官僚主义的遭遇也可能产生广泛的影响。