25 25 37 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 INTRODUCTION ■ For healthy functioning, democratic societies rely on an informed, engaged citi- zenry. When civic life and democracy lourish, citizens’ trust in other individuals, elected oicials, and public institutions is high. However, levels of trust have been declining for decades in the United States; low levels of trust among youths are a particular concern, especially if associated with a disinclination to engage in civic and political life. Understanding the nature of trust among young people today— both its meaning and the processes by which it is extended—is therefore vital. In this chapter, a companion piece to Chapter  on generational diferences, we explore the “mental models” young people use in assessing the trustworthiness of others. We attend particularly to the models they adopt vis-à-vis politicians and other public igures. We discuss patterns found among youths with respect to two components that make up a mental model of trust: the cognitive approach (or how youths go about the trust judgment process) and the evidence type (or what youths look at in order to gauge the trustworthiness of another person). Summarizing our indings, for a range of near and distant igures, youths rely predominately on an earned-through-performance model of trust. hat is, when making trust judgments, most youths take the approach that trust needs to be earned and focus on performance evidence, or the actions of the would-be trustee. Importantly, though, many youths favor models based on interactions evidence— particularly earned-through-interactions or evolves-through-interactions models— when assessing the trustworthiness of distant igures such as politicians and others in public life, where such interactions are improbable. Below, we describe more fully the deinitions and prevalence of these and other models, and show how they inluence the trust judgments youths ultimately make—speciically, the tendency of youths to either distrust or withhold trust from individuals in the polity. We also consider youths’ views regarding the general importance of trust in society. Finally, we discuss implications of these indings for youths’ participation in democratic life, and suggest practical recommendations for encouraging youths to consider alternative trust mental models. 2 “My Trust Needs To Be Earned, Or I Don’t Give It” Youths’ Mental Models of Trust MARGARET RUNDLE, CARRIE JAMES, ■ KATIE DAVIS, JENNIFER O. RYAN, JOHN M. FRANCIS, AND HOWARD GARDNER 02-Kramer & Pittinsky-02.indd 25 02-Kramer & Pittinsky-02.indd 25 12/24/2011 12:43:02 PM 12/24/2011 12:43:02 PM OUP UNCORRECTED PROOF – FPP-PROOF, 12/24/2011, CENVEO