Who Trusts National Institutions and The Role of Media Use: A Global Analysis Across Regions

Who Trusts National Institutions and The Role of Media Use: A Global Analysis Across Regions | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Who Trusts National Institutions and The Role of Media Use: A Global Analysis Across Regions Charles Goodhart, Vu Ly Hoang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9323748/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This paper investigates how media usage and individual characteristics shape trust in national institutions across diverse political and informational environments. Drawing on a harmonized dataset that combines the WVS/EVS Trend 1981–2022 with population data from the World Bank, we analyze 423,346 individual observations from 97 countries. We examine trust in five national institutions (press, government, parliament, law courts, and commercial banks) and conduct region-specific analyses covering 8 regions: Western Europe and other Advanced Economies, Eastern Europe (within and outside the Russian sphere), Asia (within and outside the China sphere), Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and the MENA. The results reveal robust cross-regional patterns: traditional media use is consistently associated with higher trust in national institutions, whereas social media use is generally linked to lower trust, particularly in political institutions. Subjective well-being, perceived security, and life satisfaction emerge as the most stable predictors of trust across regions and institutions. These findings highlight the joint roles of information environments and lived experience in shaping institutional trust and carry important implications for governance and public communication strategies. Media use Trust in National Institutions Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9323748","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":630427831,"identity":"548f3c65-2cdb-465a-9fbe-b8892338c6b3","order_by":0,"name":"Charles Goodhart","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"London School of Economics and Political Science","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Charles","middleName":"","lastName":"Goodhart","suffix":""},{"id":630427835,"identity":"6f9a4347-9c7a-4949-b8c0-3df1f8d4050c","order_by":1,"name":"Vu Ly Hoang","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA30lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACPgYeKIu9geEDkGJsIKSFDa6F5wDjDBK1SCQQq0Ui9+CDnztqEzfcfGPYdIPBRnbDAR6zB/i15CUb9p45nrjhdo5hcw5DmjFQi7kBfi05ZhK8bceMDW7nmD/OYTicuOEAW5oEIS2Sf0Fabp4B2fKfOC3SvG01cgY3eEBaDgC1MB/Dr4XnjbGxbNsBOckzaYXNOQbJxjMPE9DCz55j+PBtWx0P3/HDG5tzKuxk+443tuHVwiCQACIPQ3mgoGLGqx5kzQEQWUdI2SgYBaNgFIxkAAC8kEmkJCz8GAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"University of Finance - Marketing","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Vu","middleName":"Ly","lastName":"Hoang","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-04-05 03:08:18","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9323748/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9323748/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":108182811,"identity":"0187b5dd-9550-46ed-bf76-6e578cbba177","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-30 08:59:34","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":457651,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"TrustinNationalInstitutions.WithoutAuthorDetails.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9323748/v1_covered_f1419c95-27c4-47b5-a9af-1118e45be1bd.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Who Trusts National Institutions and The Role of Media Use: A Global Analysis Across Regions","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Media use, Trust in National Institutions","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9323748/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9323748/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis paper investigates how media usage and individual characteristics shape trust in national institutions across diverse political and informational environments. Drawing on a harmonized dataset that combines the WVS/EVS Trend 1981\u0026ndash;2022 with population data from the World Bank, we analyze 423,346 individual observations from 97 countries. We examine trust in five national institutions (press, government, parliament, law courts, and commercial banks) and conduct region-specific analyses covering 8 regions: Western Europe and other Advanced Economies, Eastern Europe (within and outside the Russian sphere), Asia (within and outside the China sphere), Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and the MENA. The results reveal robust cross-regional patterns: traditional media use is consistently associated with higher trust in national institutions, whereas social media use is generally linked to lower trust, particularly in political institutions. Subjective well-being, perceived security, and life satisfaction emerge as the most stable predictors of trust across regions and institutions. These findings highlight the joint roles of information environments and lived experience in shaping institutional trust and carry important implications for governance and public communication strategies.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Who Trusts National Institutions and The Role of Media Use: A Global Analysis Across Regions","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-04-30 07:01:06","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9323748/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"44bd5c37-8268-4d3b-a4d8-eaeb21149cd8","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 30th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"335065807951496767476291510963948375921","date":"2026-05-07T19:25:31+00:00","index":25,"fulltext":""}],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-30T07:01:06+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-04-30 07:01:06","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9323748","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9323748","identity":"rs-9323748","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}