Amid profound transformations in global political and social landscapes, the trust relationship between citizens and their governments has emerged as a pivotal theme in political science and sociology studies. In increasingly diverse societies, understanding how states foster national identity to enhance social cohesion and institutional stability has become a pressing research agenda. Utilizing data from the 2020 Chinese Netizens Social Consciousness Survey, this research employed the Ordered Probit regression model to examine the effects of governmental trust on citizens’ sense of national identity and the underlying mechanisms. The results reveal that government trust substantially bolsters national identity, with political news attention and democratic consciousness serving as significant positive mediators. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that this relationship is moderated by income level and modes of media exposure, with stronger effects observed among high-income individuals and those who rely on traditional media. This study advances the understanding of the link between trust in government and national identity and offers empirical insights into the formation of national identity in non-Western contexts.
Yihao Yin (Wed,) studied this question.