Psychological Processes of Evaluation of Public Enterprise Policies: General Trust for the Government and Social Fairness

Abstract

To analyze the relationships between perceived social fairness of Japan, trust for the government, and policy evaluations of public enterprise, we conducted a survey in 15 areas of Japan, and obtained 772 respondents. The results indicated that their ratings of social fairness, trust, and evaluations of public enterprise policies were generally low. The evaluations consisted of those of the administration and those of public enterprise, and the latter included independent positive and negative dimensions. Those who did not trust the government tended to negatively evaluate public enterprise policies, implying that people take a cognitive heuristic in evaluation of public policies. Trust for the government was found to be related to different levels of social fairness judgments (micro, macro, regional, and vocational), consistent with a social bond theory of justice that people's attitudes toward a social authority (e.g., the government) is determined by how appropriately they perceive they are treated in a social group.