Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; The Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR), Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Curr Opin Psychol. 2022 Feb;43:65-69. doi: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.06.013. Epub 2021 Jun 30.
Many citizens distrust powerful societal institutions, and hold conspiracy theories about them. What are the implications of this suspicion of institutions for people's social relationships? The current paper proposes that institutions have at least two functions to regulate citizens' social relationships: providing people with a sense of safety, and providing models for group norms and values. Suspicion of institutions undermines both of these functions, and therefore yields a range of negative societal outcomes by impacting people's interpersonal, within-group, and between-group relationships. More specifically, suspicion of institutions reduces trust between strangers, within-group cooperation, commitment, and prosocial behavior, and increases prejudice, intergroup conflict, polarization, and extremism. We conclude that institutional distrust and conspiracy theories erode the fabric of society.
许多公民不信任强大的社会机构，并对它们持有阴谋论。这种对机构的怀疑对人们的社会关系有什么影响？本文提出，机构至少有两个功能来调节公民的社会关系：为人们提供安全感，并为群体规范和价值观提供模型。对机构的怀疑破坏了这两个功能，因此通过影响人们的人际关系、群体内部关系和群体间关系，产生了一系列负面的社会后果。更具体地说，对机构的怀疑会降低陌生人之间的信任、群体内部的合作、承诺和亲社会行为，增加偏见、群体间冲突、极化和极端主义。我们的结论是，制度不信任和阴谋论侵蚀了社会结构。
