The Dynamics of Trust and Trustworthiness Perceptions in a Government Agency: A Longitudinal Perspective

• Published date: 01 January 2025
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/02750740241283031
• Author: Jenna A. Van Fossen,Olatayo Bakare,Travis H. Olson,Adam Zwickle,Joseph A. Hamm
• Date: 01 January 2025

The Dynamics of Trust and

Trustworthiness Perceptions

in a Government Agency:

A Longitudinal Perspective

Jenna A. Van Fossen

1

, Olatayo Bakare

2

, Travis H. Olson

3

,

Adam Zwickle

4,5

and Joseph A. Hamm

4,5,6

Abstract

Although trust is widely recognized as key to effective public administration, little is known about trust dynamics, especially in

typical governance relationships. We conducted an intensive longitudinal experience sampling study via a weekly survey of

Florida residents’(N=97) trust in and perceptions of the trustworthiness of the (US) National Hurricane Center over a

25-week hurricane season. We estimated two-level time series models to examine reciprocal relationships among four con-

structs: trust, ability, benevolence, and integrity. All four exhibited signif‌icant intraindividual variability such that participants

demonstrated change in their ratings of the agency over time. Ability perceptions showed the greatest variability over the

study duration. In line with classic models of trust, previous-week trustworthiness perceptions were signif‌icant predictors

of subsequent trust. Our results also provide some support for self-reinforcing accounts of trust by demonstrating that pre-

vious-week trust predicted subsequent trustworthiness. Several of the one-week lagged relationships weakened substantially

when tested with two-week lags, suggesting that trustworthiness is the stronger driver of trust. Overall, our results demon-

strate that trust is not static, even in business-as-usual governance relationships. Results position perceptions of ability, benev-

olence, and integrity as partially responsible for changes in trust over time. Further, an exploratory analysis suggested that

people who reported higher average integrity perceptions tended to have more stable trust. Thus, all the dimensions of trust-

worthiness serve as short-term levers for administrators seeking to positively manage relationships with the public, and integ-

rity may be most critical for supporting steady levels of trust.

Keywords

trust, trustworthiness, dynamics, multilevel, benevolence, competence, integrity

Public trust is central to effective governance (Choudhury,

2008; Kim, 2005; Ruscio, 1999). Research consistently indi-

cates that the public’s level of trust in agencies is important

for general support and acceptance of a wide variety of pol-

icies (Grimmelikhuijsen, 2022; Mabillard, 2022; Mizrahi

et al., 2021; Van Ryzin, 2007). In response, considerable

effort has been devoted to understanding the key antecedents

of trust across governance domains.

Building on Mayer and colleagues’(1995) inf‌luential

model of integrative trust, scholars have found strong

support for trustworthiness (composed of the dimensions of

ability, benevolence, and integrity) as the key facilitator of

trust in public administration (Grimmelikhuijsen & Knies,

2017). On this basis, governance agencies are routinely

advised to attend to and signal their technical prof‌iciency,

care for the public, and integrity in operations. The argument

is that agencies perceived to have higher ability, benevo-

lence, and integrity are more trusted.

Yet, despite continued calls for research (Lee, 2021;

Siddiki, Kim & Leach, 2017; see also Dirks & de Jong,

2022; Korsgaard et al., 2018), little is known about the

1

Department of Psychology, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA

2

Department of Political Science, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI,

USA

3

Department of Educational Administration, Michigan State University,

E. Lansing, MI, USA

4

Department of Community Sustainability, Michigan State University,

E. Lansing, MI, USA

5

Environmental Science and Policy Program, Michigan State University,

E. Lansing, MI, USA

6

School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI, USA

Corresponding Author:

Jenna A. Van Fossen, Department of Psychology, Clemson University, 418

Brackett Hall, Clemson, SC 29634, USA.

Email: jvanfos@clemson.edu

Article

The American Review of Public Administration

2025, Vol. 55(1) 28–40

© The Author(s) 2024

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DOI: 10.1177/02750740241283031

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