How Everyday Threats Undermine Trust and Hope: Experimental Evidence

Mael Astruc--Le Souder (), Olivier Bargain and Niclas Knecht
Additional contact information
Mael Astruc--Le Souder: Bordeaux University
Niclas Knecht: Bordeaux University

No 18554, IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER

Abstract: Trust in others is essential for the well-functioning of societies. While economists often study its longer-term determinants, short-term fluctuation may be equally critical, particularly during pivotal moments (e.g, elections) or periods requiring social cohesion (e.g., pandemics). Hope plays a similarly vital role in shaping individual well-being, behavior, and societal stability. We investigate the short-run plasticity of trust and hope by reactivating threat exposure similar to that encountered in media coverage. In an online experiment, individuals are randomly exposed to short videos depicting terrorism, natural disasters, or war. Both social trust and hope are significantly malleable, declining by 12%-28% of a standard deviation (across models) in response to these brief interventions. We observe strong heterogeneity in these effects, particularly along lines of political orientation and social media usage, and explore their co-movements with basic emotions. Our findings suggest that routine exposure to threatening content can destabilize the emotional underpinnings of trust and hope, with potential implications for key individual and collective behaviors.

Date: 2026-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe and nep-soc
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://docs.iza.org/dp18554.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18554

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Mark Fallak ().