Political Trust in Early Adolescence and Its Association with Intended Political Participation: A Cross-sectional Study Situated in Flanders

Abstract

Empirical research on the relationship between political trust and political participation has rarely focused on adolescents. By acknowledging the important role of young people for the sustainability of representative democracies, this study considers a two-dimensional conceptualization of political trust—that is, distinguishing between trust in order institutions (e.g., the police) and trust in representative institutions (e.g., the parliament)—to examine how it relates to several intended acts of legal and illegal political participation among Flemish eight-grade adolescents. Using structural equation modelling on data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) 2016 ( n = 2,829), we find that Flemish adolescents with lower levels of trust in representative institutions are more likely to withdraw from political life as adults. Those with lower levels of trust in order institutions, however, have a stronger inclination to use a range of political participation modes, including illegal means.

Adolescents' trust and reciprocity towards friends, unknown peers, and community members

“…Last, previous studies provided evidence on the relation between individuals' institutional and interpersonal trust beliefs and prosocial behavior (e.g., Rotenberg et al, 2005;Thielmann et al, 2020). For example, adolescents' trust in authorities is related to their societal commitments (Stals, Isac, & Claes, 2022), suggesting that institutional trust may be related to trust and reciprocity behavior to society (e.g., community member). Similarly, interpersonal trust beliefs, defined as the general trust placed in others (King-Casas et al, 2005), may explain differential patterns in trust and reciprocity behavior to close and distant others.…”

Adolescents' trust and reciprocity toward friends, unknown peers, and community members

“…Finally, previous studies provided evidence on the relation between individuals' institutional and interpersonal trust beliefs and prosocial behavior (e.g., Rotenberg et al, 2005; Thielmann et al, 2020). For example, adolescents' trust in authorities is related to their societal commitments (Stals et al, 2022), suggesting that institutional trust may be related to trust and reciprocity behavior to society (e.g., community member). Similarly, interpersonal trust beliefs, defined as the general trust placed in others (King‐Casas et al, 2005), may explain differential patterns in trust and reciprocity behavior to close and distant others.…”