The network structure of trust in the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

Trust is considered an essential part of a democratic society. That is why it is important to pay attention to it, especially in times of crisis. Some recent studies have introduced a new approach to examining attitudes and trust using social network analysis. The aim of our study is to examine the relationship between different types of trust during the coronavirus crisis. Using a sample representative of the adult population of the Czech Republic, our text discusses what the network structure of trust is like during the current pandemic. We find that the institutions or actors that are directly involved in resolving the crisis, such as security institutions and medical professionals, are located at the centre of the network of trust.

KEYWORDS:

• Trust
• network analysis
• coronavirus crisis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paulina Tabery

Paulina Tabery is a researcher in the Public Opinion Research Centre at the Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Her research interests include opinion formation, interpersonal and media communication, opinion polls, and survey research methodology.

Matous Pilnacek

Matous Pilnacek is a researcher in the Public Opinion Research Centre at the Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences. His areas of interest include survey research methodology, pre-election surveys, and likely voter models.