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Effects of Transparency on the Perceived Trustworthiness of a Government Organization: Evidence from an Online Experiment
Open accessAbstract
Although the effect of government transparency on trust is heavily debated, our theoretical and empirical understanding of this relationship is still limited. The basic assumption tested in this article is whether transparency leads to higher levels of perceived trustworthiness. This article uses theories from social psychology to advance our understanding of the effects and mechanism of the relationship between transparency and the perceived trustworthiness of a government organization. Based on these theories, we propose two alternative hypotheses: (1) the general predisposition to trust government, and (2) prior knowledge about the specific issue moderates the relationship between transparency and trust. These assumptions are tested by online experimental research, which demonstrates that these factors indeed affect the relationship between transparency and perceived trustworthiness: changes in perceived competence occur mainly in the group of citizens with high trust and little knowledge, whereas changes in perceived benevolence occur predominantly in the group of citizens with low knowledge and low trust. These findings highlight that prior knowledge and general predisposition to trust should be incorporated in our theoretical models of the relationship between transparency and perceived trustworthiness.
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“For instance, Grimmelikhuijsen and Meijer (2014) used air pollution maps to probe transparency and found that they did have an effect on some citizens (particularly less knowledgeable and less trusting citizens) but not on others.”
From Latent transparency and trust in government: Unexpected findings from two survey experiments (2020) · cites this paper as Grimmelikhuijsen and Meijer (2014)
In the citing paper
“Effects appear to be contingent on policy domain (de Fine Licht, 2014), prior attitudes (Grimmelikhuijsen & Meijer, 2014), and even presentation format (Porumbescu et al., 2017).”
From Latent transparency and trust in government: Unexpected findings from two survey experiments (2020) · cites this paper as Grimmelikhuijsen & Meijer, 2014
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
The Effect of Transparency on Trust in Government: A Cross‐National Comparative Experiment
Grimmelikhuijsen, S., Porumbescu, G. A., Hong, B., & Im, T. (2013) · Public Administration Review · doi:10.1111/puar.12047 · Cited by 740
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“Some contextual conditions that bear upon the effect of transparency identified to date include national cultural values (Grimmelikhuijsen et al. 2013 ), the type of policy issue at stake (de Fine Licht 2014), the form of government (Michener 2015 ), and the method used to enhance transparency…”
BackgroundMethodSelf-citationFelzmann, H., Fosch‐Villaronga, E., Lutz, C., & Tamò‐Larrieux, A. (2019) · Big Data & Society · doi:10.1177/2053951719860542 · Cited by 532
“In the organizational literature, trustworthiness has been closely linked to transparency in recent years (Grimmelikhuijsen and Meijer, 2012, Schnackenberg and Tomlinson, 2016).”
BackgroundUsing social media to enhance citizen engagement with local government: Twitter or Facebook?
de Rosario, A. H., Sáez-Martín, A., & Pérez, M. D. C. C. (2016) · New Media & Society · doi:10.1177/1461444816645652 · Cited by 374
“In this respect, online transparency, via local government websites, generates increased confidence among citizens (Grimmelikhuijsen and Meijer, 2014).”
BackgroundBattaglio, R. P., Belardinelli, P., Bellè, N., & Cantarelli, P. (2018) · Public Administration Review · doi:10.1111/puar.12994 · Cited by 369
Metadata
- Authors
- Grimmelikhuijsen, S. G., & Meijer, A. J.
- Affiliations
- Utrecht University (NL)
- Venue
- Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2012-11-05
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 137-157
- ISSN
- 1053-1858 (ISSN-L)
- 1477-9803
- OpenAlex
- W2137678636
- Cited by
- 678
- References
- 92
- Citations by year
- 2026: 146 · 2025: 86 · 2024: 54 · 2023: 54 · 2022: 65 · 2021: 43 · 2020: 42 · 2019: 39 · 2018: 33 · 2017: 35 · 2016: 32 · 2015: 26 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 7
- FWCI
- 78.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- dspace.library.uu.nl
- Licence
- other-oa
- Locations
- Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › E-Government and Public Services
- Social Sciences › Public Administration › Public Policy and Administration Research
- Social Sciences › Law › Administrative Law and Governance
- Keywords
- government transparency, perceived trustworthiness, public trust in government, perceived competence, perceived benevolence, prior knowledge, public trust, government organizations
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