Understanding the Dynamics of Institutional Trust in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand

Abstract

This study sought to understand the dynamics of institutional trust in three Southeast Asian countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. For this, the study used the latest wave of ‘The Asian Barometer Survey’ (2014–2016). Based on the analysis of the survey data from the Asian Barometer, this study found that along with perceived performance and governance quality, values and norms such as authoritarian cultural orientation (ACO) also affected the institutional trust of these countries. People with higher ACO had greater obedience that could affect the evaluation processes of those people and make them more positive or at least less critical, and accordingly create higher institutional trust. This finding may generate an important lesson that institutional trust may not just reflect rational calculation of institutional performance and governance quality, it may originate from other sources such as values and norms like ACO.