Trust in Politicians—Understanding and Measuring the Perceived Trustworthiness of Specific Politicians and Politicians in General as Multidimensional Constructs

Abstract

Our chapter introduces theory-based measures for the assessment of trust in specific politicians and politicians in general. In Study 1 (N = 317), the dimensionality, reliability, and relatedness to other concepts of trustworthiness of specific German politicians and politicians in general are investigated. In Study 2 (N = 248), the prediction of our scales for voting behavior in the 2013 German national election is examined. The empirical results provide evidence that trustworthiness of a specific politician and all politicians, respectively, can be understood and measured as three-dimensional concepts comprising benevolence, integrity, and competence. Our results furthermore suggest that both scales are useful in the prediction of citizens’ voting decisions and electoral participation.