Santiago is presenting, and would like help designing a Study 2.

Trust is assumed to have a huge role in the effectiveness of public policy. However, this role has rarely been studied. In this paper, I study how trust in politicians affects the effectiveness of public policy. To show this, I use political polarization as a driver of (mis)trust in politicians. Study 1 shows that while political polarization affects trust in politicians, it does not substantially affect people’s reactions to receiving bad news about a politician. This result implies the pervasive role of polarization in perceptions of trustworthiness of political figures, which could impact the effectiveness of public policy. Following studies should focus on the behavioural reactions towards public policies proposed by these figures and how these reactions are affected by different levels of trust.