Who do you trust? How trust in partial and impartial government institutions influences climate policy attitudes

Figures & data

Table 1. Multilevel regression analysis: Climate policy preferences, direct effects.

	Favourable climate policy preferences (factor)	Favour (increasing) taxes on fossil fuels to reduce CC	Favour subsidies on renewable energy to reduce CC	Favour bans on energy-inefficient appliances to reduce CC
	Coef. (Std. Err.)	Coef. (Std. Err.)	Coef. (Std. Err.)	Coef. (Std. Err.)
Individual level
Woman	0.052*** (0.010)	0.031* (0.012)	0.022* (0.010)	0.076*** (0.012)
Age	−0.001** (0.000)	−0.002*** (0.000)	−0.002*** (0.000)	0.002*** (0.000)
Education	0.024*** (0.001)	0.026*** (0.002)	0.019*** (0.001)	0.016*** (0.002)
Generalized trust	0.012** (0.004)	0.022*** (0.006)	0.006 (0.004)	0.005 (0.004)
Rightwing ideology	−0.039*** (0.006)	−0.042*** (0.008)	−0.030*** (0.006)	−0.024*** (0.004)
CC concern	0.253*** (0.015)	0.216*** (0.021)	0.171*** (0.013)	0.239*** (0.010)
Trust: partial	0.092*** (0.012)	0.178*** (0.025)	0.026 (0.014)	0.041** (0.013)
Trust: impartial	0.067*** (0.010)	0.078*** (0.018)	0.059*** (0.008)	0.028*** (0.007)
Country level
Trust: partial	0.027 (0.244)	−0.247 (0.244)	0.193 (0.290)	0.022 (0.181)
Trust: impartial	−0.027 (0.288)	−0.548 (0.284)	0.358 (0.344)	0.028 (0.213)
Generalized trust	0.003 (0.165)	0.373* (0.164)	−0.073 (0.196)	−0.213 (0.122)
Eastern European	0.123 (0.141)	0.210 (0.139)	0.250 (0.168)	−0.188 (0.104)
Random effects
sd Generalized trust	0.018*** (0.004)	0.024*** (0.005)	0.018*** (0.004)	0.010 (0.004)
sd Rightwing ideology	0.029*** (0.005)	0.033*** (0.006)	0.028*** (0.005)	0.016*** (0.004)
sd CC concern	0.067*** (0.011)	0.093*** (0.010)	0.054*** (0.010)	0.036*** (0.009)
sd Trust: partial	0.051*** (0.010)	0.054*** (0.011)	0.060*** (0.011)	0.051*** (0.010)
sd Trust: impartial	0.039*** (0.008)	0.082*** (0.014)	0.024** (0.009)	0.014 (0.012)
sd Intercept	0.241*** (0.043)	0.222*** (0.046)	0.294*** (0.051)	0.166*** (0.035)
sd Residual	0.902*** (0.003)	1.138*** (0.004)	0.984*** (0.004)	1.113*** (0.004)
Intercept	−1.029 (0.876)	−0.068 (0.804)	3.700*** (1.044)	3.657*** (0.651)

Notes: Significance levels: *** = p < 0.001; ** = p < 0.01; * = p < 0.05. The dependent variable ‘Favourable climate policy preferences’ and the independent variables measuring trust in government (Trust: Partial and Trust: Impartial) have a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1. All other variables are unstandardized.

Table 2. Multilevel regression analysis: Climate policy preferences, interaction effects.

	Favourable climate policy preferences (factor)	Favour (increasing) taxes on fossil fuels to reduce CC	Favour subsidies on renewable energy to reduce CC	Favour bans on energy-inefficient appliances to reduce CC
	Coef. (Std. Err.)	Coef. (Std. Err.)	Coef. (Std. Err.)	Coef. (Std. Err.)
Individual level
Woman	0.052*** (0.010)	0.031* (0.012)	0.022* (0.010)	0.075*** (0.012)
Age	−0.001** (0.000)	−0.002*** (0.000)	−0.002*** (0.000)	0.002*** (0.000)
Education	0.024*** (0.001)	0.026*** (0.002)	0.019*** (0.001)	0.016*** (0.002)
Generalized trust	0.012** (0.004)	0.022*** (0.006)	0.006 (0.004)	0.005 (0.003)
Rightwing ideology	−0.039*** (0.006)	−0.042*** (0.007)	−0.030*** (0.006)	−0.024*** (0.004)
CC concern	0.251*** (0.011)	0.212*** (0.013)	0.170*** (0.012)	0.236*** (0.007)
Trust: partial	0.093*** (0.021)	0.136*** (0.025)	0.043 (0.023)	0.069** (0.024)
Trust: impartial	0.062** (0.019)	0.029 (0.028)	0.064** (0.019)	0.059** (0.021)
Trust: part. * concern	−0.000 (0.006)	0.014 (0.007)	−0.005 (0.006)	−0.010 (0.007)
Trust: imp. * concern	0.001 (0.005)	0.016* (0.007)	−0.001 (0.006)	−0.010 (0.006)
Country level
Trust: partial	0.016 (0.233)	−0.224 (0.229)	0.202 (0.287)	−0.022 (0.160)
Trust: impartial	−0.084 (0.274)	−0.546* (0.266)	0.294 (0.339)	−0.128 (0.186)
Generalized trust	−0.016 (0.156)	0.334* (0.151)	−0.083 (0.192)	−0.254* (0.100)
Eastern European	0.101 (0.133)	0.173 (0.129)	0.241 (0.165)	−0.215* (0.085)
Cross-level interaction
Trust: part. * concern	0.040 (0.030)	0.091* (0.037)	−0.018 (0.033)	0.039 (0.022)
Trust: imp. * concern	0.144*** (0.036)	0.161*** (0.044)	0.093* (0.040)	0.114*** (0.026)
Random effects
sd Generalized trust	0.018*** (0.004)	0.024*** (0.005)	0.018*** (0.004)	0.009 (0.004)
sd Rightwing ideology	0.029*** (0.005)	0.033*** (0.006)	0.028*** (0.005)	0.015*** (0.004)
sd CC concern	0.043*** (0.008)	0.052*** (0.010)	0.047*** (0.009)	0.012 (0.012)
sd Trust: partial	0.051*** (0.010)	0.053*** (0.011)	0.061 (0.011)	0.050*** (0.010)
sd Trust: impartial	0.039*** (0.009)	0.082*** (0.014)	0.025 (0.009)	0.013 (0.012)
sd Intercept	0.227*** (0.041)	0.204*** (0.044)	0.289*** (0.050)	0.138*** (0.029)
sd Residual	0.902*** (0.003)	1.138*** (0.004)	0.984*** (0.004)	1.113*** (0.004)
Intercept	−0.923 (0.828)	0.148 (0.804)	3.755*** (1.024)	3.888*** (0.528)

Notes: Significance levels: *** = p < 0.001; ** = p < 0.01; * = p < 0.05. The dependent variable ‘Favourable climate policy preferences’ and the independent variables measuring trust in government (Trust: Partial and Trust: Impartial) have a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1. All other variables are unstandardized.

Figure 1. Marginal effects of climate change concern on climate policy preferences (factor) at different levels of trust in partial government institutions.

Figure 2. Marginal effects of climate change concern on climate policy preferences (factor) at different levels of trust in impartial government institutions.