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The Collective Trust Game: An Online Group Adaptation of the Trust Game Based on the HoneyComb Paradigm
Published on: October 20, 2022
How institutional distrust breeds one-sided leadership: A consistency-based account
Claire Linares1, Anne-Sophie Chaxel2
1Department of Marketing, IESE Business School.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|July 23, 2026
Summary
Declining institutional trust increases the need for cognitive consistency. This leads people to prefer leaders with unambivalent, one-sided stances, especially when distrust is high.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Political Psychology
- Behavioral Economics
Background:
- Declining institutional trust is a growing concern in democracies.
- Understanding its impact on societal preferences is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how institutional distrust influences leadership preferences.
- To explore the psychological mechanisms underlying this relationship.
Main Methods:
- Five sets of studies across eight countries.
- Experimental and correlational designs, including reverse correlation.
- Mediation and moderation analyses.
Main Results:
- Institutional distrust creates cognitive conflict and a heightened need for cognitive consistency.
- This need predicts a preference for one-sided, unambivalent leaders.
- The effect is moderated by individual beliefs about institutional roles.
Conclusions:
- Cognitive consistency is a key mediator linking institutional distrust to leadership preferences.
- Findings support cognitive dissonance theory in the context of political attitudes.
- Rising distrust may foster demand for simplistic, decisive leadership.
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