Feb 24, 2025 10am-11am in Bon Seigneur House Classroom
Cory Clark, candidate for the tenure-track social psychology position, will give a research presentation entitled: Politicization Undermines Trust in Institutions, Even Among Political Allies
Abstract: In eight studies (seven preregistered; N=10,957 U.S. adults), testing over 40 institutions (e.g., criminal justice system, journalists, Facebook, World Health Organization) and 30 academic disciplines (e.g., economists, psychologists, education, public health), I find that perceived politicization—the extent to which political values impact an institution’s work—results in lower trust, deference to expertise, financial support, and other negative outcomes. Experimentally increasing politicization not only caused these negative outcomes but also undermined trust toward entire related professional groups. These negative relationships were typically observed among both political ingroup and outgroup participants: politicization made both left- and right-leaning participants less trusting of both left- and right-leaning institutions. Although attempts to experimentally increase politicization (subsequently reducing trust) were successful, attempts to experimentally decrease politicization mostly failed, suggesting that once an institution has a reputation as politicized, it may be difficult to undo. Institutions may have important reasons for political engagement, but these data reveal that there are often substantial reputational costs and among almost the entire ideological spectrum of the public.
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