Governmental betrayal trauma: When failures of state protection undermine public trust and mental health

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Sociology
• Political Science

Background:

• Governmental betrayal trauma involves harm or lack of protection from the state.
• Institutional betrayal theory provides a framework for understanding state-level harm.
• The Israel-Hamas war context highlights the relevance of state protection failures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine governmental betrayal trauma in Israeli civilians during wartime.
• To investigate the relationship between trust in government (competence, benevolence, integrity) and governmental betrayal trauma.
• To assess the mediating role of system justification in the trust-trauma association.

Main Methods:

• Convenience sample of 832 Israeli adults.
• Self-report measures adapted for wartime conditions.
• Structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze relationships.

Main Results:

• Higher trust in governmental competence and benevolence correlated with lower betrayal trauma.
• System justification positively linked to benevolence and integrity, negatively to betrayal trauma.
• System justification fully mediated the integrity-trauma link and partly mediated the benevolence-trauma link.

Conclusions:

• Governmental betrayal trauma is a distinct form of harm, extending betrayal trauma theory to the state level.
• State protection failures during crises can be perceived as betrayal.
• Trust and system justification are key factors in understanding civilian experiences of state betrayal during conflict.