Gal Ariely

Individual and Contextual Correlates of Trust in Media Across 44 Countries

Media research demonstrates that audience trust in the news media is a highly consequential factor, shaping audience selection of and response to media, and potentially impacting citizens’ perceptions of the political system at large. Still, our knowledge about the correlates of trust in media is limited. Only a few studies have utilized a correlational design to explore the associations between trust in media and other factors, and almost all of these studies originate in the U.S. context. The current investigation utilizes data from 44 diverse countries (n = 57,847), collected as part of the World Values Survey, to broaden our understanding of trust in media. The aim is two-fold—to learn about individual-level correlates across contexts and to demonstrate that macro-level factors play a part in shaping such trust. Our findings indicate that levels of political interest, interpersonal trust, and exposure to television news and newspapers are positively correlated with trust in media, while education and exposure to news on the Internet are negatively associated. On the macro level, postmaterialism emerged as a consistent predictor of trust in media. State ownership of the media industry did not have a main effect on trust in media after controlling for other factors. However, an interaction was found between state ownership and level of democracy: state ownership of television is positively associated with media trust in democratic societies and negatively associated with trust in media in nondemocratic societies.

Globalization, immigration and national identity: How the level of globalization affects the relations between nationalism, constructive patriotism and attitudes toward immigrants?

Arguing that globalization is an important factor in shaping intergroup relations, this paper examines its impact on xenophobic attitudes towards immigrants and on the relationship between nationalism, constructive patriotism, and xenophobia. While multilevel analysis of data from the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) National Identity II (2003) across 31 countries indicates no direct effect of globalization on xenophobia, the relationship between nationalism, constructive patriotism, and xenophobia does appear to be affected. The negative relationship between constructive patriotism and xenophobia is obtained in countries with higher levels of globalization, and the positive relationship between nationalism and xenophobia is also stronger in such countries. A comparison of globalization and economic explanations for xenophobia indicates the unique effect of globalization. The common economic explanations of xenophobia are discussed in light of these findings.

Public administration and citizen satisfaction with democracy: cross-national evidence

This article examines the democracy–bureaucracy nexus by addressing the role of public administration in sustaining citizen satisfaction with democracy. Employing cross-national data across 35 countries, the multi-level analysis enables investigation at both the individual and the country level. With respect to the former, the findings indicate that citizens’ evaluation of public administration is related more strongly to their satisfaction with democracy than other explanations – such as political trust, electoral fairness, and political efficacy. With respect to the latter, they demonstrate that public administration quality is related to satisfaction with democracy to a degree similar to other macro-level factors – such as the level of democracy, political trust, and human development in a country. The results are discussed in the framework of the debate regarding the democracy–bureaucracy nexus. Points for practitioners This article points to the central role of public administration in sustaining citizen support of democracy. The analysis demonstrates that the image of public service correlated strongly with satisfaction with democracy and that public administration quality appears to be correlated positively with satisfaction with democracy to a degree comparable with alternative explanations. The implications for professionals working in public management and administration is that despite the ongoing castigating of the public service by politicians and pundits, its relevance for the democratic satisfaction of citizens should not be overlooked.

Does Diversity Erode Social Cohesion? Conceptual and Methodological Issues

Robert Putnams ‘hunkering down’ thesis regarding the negative effect of ethnic diversity on trust and willingness to participate in collective life launched an ongoing debate concerning the ramifications of diversity for social cohesion. Findings regarding the way in which diversity affects social cohesion are discrepant, some scholars arguing that diversity has negative effects on social cohesion and others indicating insignificant or even positive effects. This study claims that these conflicting conclusions are explained by the vagueness of social cohesion – a multidimensional concept. Analyzing cross-national survey data from 42 European countries, it demonstrates how diversity is variably related to the diverse dimensions and operationalization of social cohesion. While diversity is not associated with the most commonly adduced dimension of social cohesion – namely, interpersonal trust – it does possess a negative relation to two other dimensions of social cohesion: belonging and social solidarity. Even these negative relations are not consistent across different operationalizations of belonging and social solidarity, however. In the face of increasing concerns regarding the implications of diversity for social cohesion, these findings demonstrate that caution must be exercised when examining the relations between these two phenomena.

Nationhood across Europe: The Civic–Ethnic Framework and the Distinction between Western and Eastern Europe

This paper examines whether the civic–ethnic framework is indeed relevant for the distinction between Western and Eastern Europe from institutional and public opinion perspectives. Multilevel analysis of data from the last wave of the European Value Study across 45 countries shows that there are indeed dissimilar conceptions of nationhood in the West and in the East. In Eastern Europe there is higher support for the ethnic component than the civic component and there are stronger relations between national identification and the ethnic component. The results indicate that, despite critiques of the civic–ethnic framework, to a certain extent, it reflects a distinction between Western and Eastern Europe.

Do Those who Identify with Their Nation Always Dislike Immigrants?: An Examination of Citizenship Policy Effects

This article challenges the common wisdom that national identification always leads to xenophobic attitudes toward immigrants. Analyzing cross-national survey data from dozens of countries reveals how the relations between national identification and xenophobic attitudes toward immigrants vary according to country citizenship policy. The more inclusive the citizenship regime, the weaker the relations are between national identification and xenophobia. In fact, in countries with full jus soli law there are, on average, negative relations between national identification and xenophobia while in other countries there are positive relations between the two. These findings are used to discuss the ways conceptions of nationhood are institutionalized in citizenship policy from a socio-psychological perspective.

Exploring citizenship spheres of inclusion/exclusion: rights as ‘potential for power’

ABSTRACT Ariely examines the logic of inclusion/exclusion involved in the allocation of social, political and cultural rights to minorities. He argues that the unequal allocation of rights is determined by the degree of potential power inherent in the various types of rights, and that rights with more potential power, such as political and cultural representation rights, challenge the dominant groups position more strongly than rights to social welfare and cultural autonomy. Minorities are included at a higher level in spheres of rights with low potential power, and at a lower level in spheres of rights with higher potential power. He uses the case of the Arab citizens of Israel to illustrate the thesis, reviewing institutional practices of inclusion/exclusion as well as the attitudes of Israeli Jews towards the allocation of different rights as reflected in three attitudinal surveys.

Trusting the Press and Political Trust: A Conditional Relationship

Abstract Despite the fact that the media serves as a vital source of information about politics, the relation between media trust and political trust has largely been overlooked, especially outside the USA. Adopting a comparative approach, this study examines the way(s) in which trust in the press and political trust are related across dissimilar media environments. Analyzing survey data from 32 European countries, we found that while trust in the press and political trust are positively related, the magnitude of the relation differs across countries. This variation is explained by three structural components within the media environment: media autonomy, journalistic professionalism, and party/press parallelism. The multilevel models indicate that countries with more media autonomy and journalistic professionalism evince a weaker relation between media trust and political trust. A stronger relation obtains in media environments characterized by party/press parallelism. These findings illustrate how media environments affect citizen perceptions toward the political sphere: the less restricted and more professional the media environment, the more the public perceptions have the opportunity to be affected by what is being reported.

Does Commercialized Political Coverage Undermine Political Trust?: Evidence Across European Countries

Media commercialization has long been suspected of exerting a negative influence upon political culture. The news medias interest in intrigues, personal details, and scandals rather than political issues in order to capture audience attention is regarded by many as a prime source of political cynicism. This article scrutinizes this claim by examining whether a commercialized media environment correlates with lower levels of citizen political trust across countries. Integrating cross-national survey data with country-level measures of commercialized political coverage, the findings indicate that, across 33 European countries, a negative link exists between media commercialization and political trust. Replication of the analysis with a separate cross-national survey across 28 countries demonstrated the robustness of the findings. These support the claim that media commercialization undermines political trust.

Globalization and global identification: a comparative multilevel analysis

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the relation between national and global identification and the impact of globalization on this relation. The multilevel approach drew survey data from 89 countries, country-level measures of globalization enabling an examination of globalization effects on the relation between national and global identification. A negative link obtained between national and global identification in most of the countries, the cross-country variation of this link is related to globalization. Countries characterized by rapid globalization exhibit a lower negative relation between national and global identification than those marked by lower levels of globalization change.