Effects of Expectation-Disconfirmation regarding the Role of Government on Trust in Government and the Moderating Effect of Citizen Participation*

This study draws on expectation-disconfirmation theory to explore differences between what is expected of the government and perceptions of what the government in fact does and to determine the influence of these differences on trust in government. Confirming the applicability of contact theory, this study also reveals the moderating effect of citizen participation. The results show that the more citizens’ expectations regarding the role of government are not met, the less trust they have in government. The relation between these two variables is consistently observed, regardless of ways of measuring trust in government. However, the negative relation between expectation-disconfirmation and trust in government was moderated by citizens’ political participation.