Enhancing Institutional Trust: Evidence from an Experimental Study with Adolescents in Italy

Elena Sestini, Alessio Muscillo (), Gabriele Lombardi, Francesca Garbin and Paolo Pin
Additional contact information
Elena Sestini: University of Siena
Alessio Muscillo: Universitas Mercatorum
Gabriele Lombardi: University of Florence
Francesca Garbin: Charles River Associates
Paolo Pin: University of Siena

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, 2025, vol. 177, issue 2, No 2, 449-488

Abstract: Abstract This study presents a quantitative analysis of a randomized survey experiment with Italian high school students (N = 1,433). It aims to evaluate trust levels in various institutions-healthcare, education, politics, judiciary, and defense-and identify determinants influencing trust in the scientific field, particularly regarding health issues. Using experimental scenarios, potential causal relationships among factors influencing confidence and trust scores are explored. Three distinct experimental scenarios are included in the survey: the first examines the influence of various social media platforms, the second and the third evaluate the impact of doctors, parents, and friends on trust-building among young individuals. Our results indicate a high level of trust in science among adolescents and emphasize high confidence in scientific experts. The study provides policy insights aimed at fostering trust, including recommendations for investments in education, increased involvement of specialists in direct communication, and enhanced transparency measures to mitigate misinformation.

Keywords: Trust in science; Adolescents; Multivariate analysis; Randomized controlled trial; Research to policy; Survey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11205-024-03507-4 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:spr:soinre:v:177:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-024-03507-4

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11135

DOI: 10.1007/s11205-024-03507-4

Access Statistics for this article

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement is currently edited by Filomena Maggino

More articles in Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().