Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

Spring 5-6-2026

Faculty Advisor(s)

Lewis Luartz

Abstract

The research question I have chosen for my project is, “In what ways do levels of trust impact whether someone chooses to participate in an in-person protest?” A current problem within this field from previous findings is that research claims there is no consensus on whether trust encourages participation or if distrust drives it. Therefore, while some believe that a minimum level of trust is necessary to participate in politics, others argue that distrust drives citizens to partake in non-institutionalized, radicalized, or in-person protests. My answer to this question is that I believe if people were to have high levels of trust in institutions, then it would incentivize them to participate in a protest due to it being a safe activity. However, if they displace hatred towards institutions then they may fear unfair treatment, escalation, or negative consequences, making them less likely to attend. The type of model I used for my project is the general linear model and as far as the name of my data set, I used the Arab Barometer Wave VII from the timeframe October 2021 - July 2022. Lastly, my findings suggest that overall when people have to be careful in placing trust in institutions then they will be less likely to attend a protest by a factor of -4.67*10^-02.

Comments

Presented at the Spring 2026 Student Scholar Symposium at Chapman University.

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