Cynicism as Contagion: Deliberation as Inoculation?

This paper explores the threat that cynicism poses to democracy and interrogates the potential role for democratic innovations in an environment of low trust. Cynicism is the belief that others are generally selfish, greedy, and dishonest. Surveys suggest that rates of cynicism are higher than ever recorded in the United States (Zaki 2024). We connect this concept to distrust, which is understood as pessimistic beliefs about the expected behavior of others. Cynicism and distrust create a vicious cycle and a self-fulfilling prophecy, and undermine cooperation and collective action. Trust beliefs can be updated in response to new information (or misinformation). However, cynicism may prevent people from even trying to cooperate, denying them the opportunity to update their beliefs in a positive direction. Furthermore, if individuals avoid cooperation due to their own cynicism, this can be interpreted by others as evidence of bad behavior, thus spreading the cynicism from one citizen to others. We thus argue that cynicism is contagious. This paper goes on to consider how we might inoculate citizens from cynicism, pointing to an underappreciated role for democratic innovations. We explore how we might address unprecedentedly high levels of cynicism through deliberative encounters. Reversing the logic of the vicious cycle of cynicism, we point to a possible virtuous circle of trust breeding trust. The paper, while theoretical in focus, considers future avenues for empirical research.