Instinctive Versus Reflective Trust in the European Central Bank

41 Pages Posted: 5 May 2022

See all articles by Siria Angino

Siria Angino

European Central Bank (ECB)

Stefania Secola

European Central Bank (ECB)

Date Written: May 1, 2022

Abstract

Political science research has established that trust in institutions, including central banks, is shaped by socio-economic and demographic factors, as well as by the assessment of institutional features and by slow-moving components such as culture. However, the role of cognitive processes has largely been neglected, especially in the analysis of central bank trust. In this paper we aim to address this gap focusing on the case of the European Central Bank (ECB). We introduce the concepts of “instinctive trust”, which captures an on-the-spot judgement on the institution’s trustworthiness, and of “reflective trust”, which refers to a more pondered opinion on the matter. Using a survey experiment, we find that deeper consideration about the ECB promotes less trust in the institution compared to an on-the-spot judgement. This result is mainly driven by women, and in particular by those who say they possess a low understanding of the central bank’s policies.

Keywords: central bank, Institutional trust, survey experiment

JEL Classification: C83, D83, E58, Z13

Suggested Citation

Angino, Siria and Secola, Stefania, Instinctive Versus Reflective Trust in the European Central Bank (May 1, 2022). ECB Working Paper No. 2022/2660, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4100887 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4100887

Siria Angino (Contact Author)

European Central Bank (ECB) ( email )

Sonnemannstrasse 22
Frankfurt am Main, 60314
Germany

Stefania Secola

European Central Bank (ECB) ( email )

Sonnemannstrasse 22
Frankfurt am Main, 60314
Germany

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
80
Abstract Views
348
Rank
551,205
PlumX Metrics