A leader I can(not) trust: understanding the path from epistemic trust to political leader choices via dogmatism

There is growing concern about the impact of declining political trust on democracies. Psychological research has introduced the concept of epistemic (mis)trust as a stable disposition acquired through development, which may influence our sociopolitical engagement. Given trust's prominence in current politics, we examined the relationship between epistemic trust and people's choices of (un)trustworthy political leaders. In two representative samples in the UK and US (<i>N</i> = 1096), we tested whether epistemic trust predicts political leader choices through three political dimensions: dogmatism, political trust, and ideology. Although epistemic trust did not directly predict choices of political leaders, it predicted dogmatism and political ideology, which in turn predicted choices of political leaders. A network analysis revealed that epistemic trust and political dimensions only interact through their common connection with dogmatism. These findings suggest that cognitive and affective development may underlie an individual's political ideology and associated beliefs.