Organizations and the Crisis of Trust: The Challenges and Opportunities of Declining Institutional and Informational Trust

Toni G.L.A. van der Meer, Yan Jin, Anna Brosius, Victoria Marie McDermott, Xuerong Lu (PhD Alum), Brooke Fisher Liu, and Amisha Mehta (Forthcoming), “Organizations and the Crisis of Trust: The Challenges and Opportunities of Declining Institutional and Informational Trust” in Handbook of Crisis, Risk, and Disaster Communication (Eds., Liu, B. F., & Mehta, A.). Routledge.

Abstract: This chapter is concerned with how organizational practices are disrupted by a climate of distrust. A context of politicized crises and the failure of major institutions to meet societal expectations has created a so-called societal crisis of trust. This crisis materializes on two different levels relevant to organizations, namely on the level of (i) institutional distrust and (ii) low trust in the information ecosystem. This chapter argue that a generalized level of distrust adds an additional layer to organizational communication where breaking the spiral of distrust has become a prerequisite for communication and relationship building. The chapter discusses how both public and private organizations are affected by and can be part of the solution to the crisis of trust.