The Effect of Crisis Awareness and Concern on Social and Political Trust

Last registered on November 04, 2022
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The Effect of Crisis Awareness and Concern on Social and Political Trust
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0010358
Initial registration date
November 04, 2022

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
November 04, 2022, 1:37 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
Belgium
Region
Brussels

Primary Investigator

Name
Willem Sas
Affiliation
University of Stirling
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Emilie Van Haute
PI Affiliation
Université Libre de Bruxelles
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2022-11-07
End date
2022-12-05
Keywords
Electoral, Governance
Additional Keywords
Intsitutional Reform Political Trust Social Trust
JEL code(s)
D72, H7
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
In this online survey experiment (1000 respondents in the Brussels Region, from 7/11/2022-5/12/2022) we test the prediction that crisis awareness and concern has an effect on institutional and social trust. We proxy crisis awareness and concern using priming treatment questions related to the ongoing energy crisis. We expect crisis awareness to reduce trust levels across the board. We furthermore expect respondents that are more concerned about the crisis to report lower levels of social trust than institutional trust, and vice versa. The experiment is preceded by a general survey on institutional reform in Brussel, which operationalises the context we are interested in. We have two outcome questions eliciting social and institutional trust, and one behavioural outcome measuring the willingness to participate in citizen panels discussing reform in Brussels, as a proxy for trust. Whether the latter willingness is eventually translated into actual participation, can also be elicited.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Sas, Willem and Emilie Van Haute. 2022. "The Effect of Crisis Awareness and Concern on Social and Political Trust." AEA RCT Registry. November 04. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.10358-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
In this online survey experiment (1000 respondents in the Brussels Region, from 7/11/2022-5/12/2022) we test the prediction that crisis awareness and concern has an effect on institutional and social trust. We proxy crisis awareness and concern using priming treatment questions related to the ongoing energy crisis. We expect crisis awareness to reduce trust levels across the board. We furthermore expect respondents that are more concerned about the crisis to report lower levels of social trust than institutional trust, and vice versa. The experiment is preceded by a general survey on institutional reform in Brussel, which operationalises the context we are interested in. We have two outcome questions eliciting social and institutional trust, and one behavioural outcome measuring the willingness to participate in citizen panels discussing reform in Brussels, as a proxy for trust. Whether the latter willingness is eventually translated into actual participation, can also be elicited.
Intervention Start Date
2022-11-07
Intervention End Date
2022-12-05

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Political Trust
Social Trust
Citizen Participation (behavioural measure)
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
See above

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
See above
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Online Survey randomization
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1
Sample size: planned number of observations
1000
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
500 respondents in treatment group receiving the priming questions before the outcome questions, 500 in control group receiving the treatment questions after the outcome questions
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials