Government Support for Harm Reduction Leads to Increased Public Trust in Local Government

"Across a unique field survey of authorities in targeted regions, a large-scale field survey of the same regions, and an experiment conducted online, results consistently showed that higher perceived governmental support for comprehensive drug policies inclusive of harm reduction measures would lead to increased public trust in local government. This medium-sized effect was evident in both the assessments of local authorities and the self-reported perception of community residents. Remarkably, in the experiment, this positive effect persisted even immediately after respondents were reminded of potential concerns regarding various harm reduction methods in similar neighboring communities. The experiment helped establish causation and revealed two mediators in this relation: the perceived governmental effort (regardless of methods) in addressing substance use harms and the feelings of optimism regarding potential improvements.

"Our field survey data are unique in that they allowed us to test our hypothesis among both community residents and local authorities. Notably, the strength of the effect remained consistent across respondents’ roles, although there was variation in the level of trust, with authorities assessing higher levels of trust compared to residents’ self-reports. In the experiment, we replicated this finding with assigned roles, showing also that this role effect is completely mediated by perceived governmental efforts and feelings of optimism. It is striking that this role effect emerged after merely imagining oneself in the shoes of a(an) resident/authority very briefly."