Trust in Government, Social Determinants, and Resource Distribution after a Catastrophic Typhoon

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of social determinants and resource distribution on trust in government after a disaster. This involved an analysis of four waves of the Social Impact and Recovery Survey of Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan. The statistical method adopted was the latent process mixed model for multivariate longitudinal outcomes. Trust scores were assigned to four levels of government, and social determinants were chosen to represent resource distribution in predisaster situations. This study also included resource distribution after the disaster. The results indicated that ethnicity was a more prominent issue than education and income. Regarding resource distribution after a disaster, resource gain and resource loss were both significant in shaping trust in government. The results also suggested that over the long term, resource gain more greatly affected trust in government than resource loss. Additionally, resource loss was crucial for the government at more local levels in gaining people’s trust. This study recommends that a postdisaster model of trust in government must prioritize resource distribution both before and after a disaster.