Does Political Trust Foster or Hinder Volunteering? A Longitudinal Investigation in the United Kingdom

Fanny Lalot & Dominic Abrams

Social Psychological and Personality Science2026https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506251411575article
AJG 3ABDC B
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

Volunteering plays a growing role in supporting community resilience in times of crisis. This paper takes a closer look at the role of political trust for volunteering, distinguishing between trust in local and national government. We conduct secondary analysis of a large-scale longitudinal social survey in the United Kingdom (three timepoints, N = 5,039), to estimate a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model to assess the relationships between political trust and volunteering over time. Results reveal a positive link at the between-person level between volunteering and local but not national trust (random intercepts). At the within-person level (cross-lagged paths), an increase in local trust is related to a greater likelihood of volunteering 3 months later. Moreover, an increase in national trust is related to a lower likelihood of volunteering. We highlight implications for initiatives to promote civic engagement.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506251411575

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@article{fanny2026,
  title        = {{Does Political Trust Foster or Hinder Volunteering? A Longitudinal Investigation in the United Kingdom}},
  author       = {Fanny Lalot & Dominic Abrams},
  journal      = {Social Psychological and Personality Science},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506251411575},
}

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.