APS
2026 APS Annual Convention · 2026
Political Trust and Attitudes Toward AI: A Comparative Longitudinal Analysis of Six European Countries
- Aki Koivula
University of Turku - Atte Oksanen
Tampere University - Iina Savolainen
Tampere University - Moona Heiskari
Tampere University - Nina Savela
University of Helsinki, Finland
Abstract
We examined whether political trust predicts AI positivity and negativity using a three-wave longitudinal survey of 8,806 respondents across six European countries. Multilevel REWB models showed that stable between-person trust—especially in the EU—strongly predicted more positive and fewer negative AI attitudes, highlighting trust’s heuristic role in technology evaluation.
