Civic identity and institutional trust as factors of economic mentality

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Context and relevance.</strong> The relevance of the study is due to the need to develop the concept of economic mentality as an integrative concept relevant for psychological and economic science. The study allows us to connect the psychological representation of economic reality with the degree of identification with one’s country and institutional trust. <br><strong>Objective.</strong> Study of economic mentality as a value of economic freedom in the system of representations about the economic structure of the country and in the context of identification with the country as a component of civil identity. <br><strong>Hypotheses.</strong> 1. Identification with the country is associated with the Global Index of Economic Mentality. 2. A high level of identification with the country is associated with high institutional trust. 3. The relationship between identification with the country and the Global Index of Economic Mentality is mediated by the level of institutional trust. 4. The priority of the market economy in the economic mentality is associated with a high level of individualizing moral foundations and a high level of reward for application. 5. High identification with the country is associated with a low level of “Social cynicism” and a high level of “Loyalty” and “Authority”.<br><strong>Methods and materials.</strong> World Values Survey for the Global Index of Economic Mentality and for the institutional trust are used. Identification with All Humanity Scale by S. McFarland, Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ) by J. Graham, J. Haidt, and short version of the Social Axioms Survey (SAS) by M. Bond and K. Leung are used. <br><strong>Results.</strong> Identification with the country is a significant predictor of economic mentality: the higher the identification with the country, the lower the Global Index of Economic Mentality. Institutional trust mediates the relationship between identification with the country and the Global Index of Economic Mentality. The direct effect has a smaller coefficient than the indirect effect. The Global Index of Economic Mentality correlates with the social axioms “Reward for application” (<em>r</em> = 0,2) and “Social cynicism” (<em>r</em> = –0,2), and does not correlate with moral foundations. The highest correlations of identification with the country were obtained for the moral foundations “Loyalty” (<em>r</em> = 0,5), “Authority” (<em>r</em> = 0,4). <br><strong>Conclusions. </strong>People who identify themselves with their country and express higher trust in its institutions are more likely to expect the state to be responsible for the efficient and fair distribution of resources and the economic well-being of citizens.</p>