Public attitudes towards non-profit organizations: social myths versus social trust

Abstract

Background. One of the social institutions that directly influences the growth of civic responsibility and activity in achieving the goals of sustainable development of Russian society are non-profit organizations. However, for the mass involvement of citizens in the activities of the third sector, it is necessary to increase the level of trust in NPOs, which is complicated by a number of factors, including the significant role played by myths about non-profit organizations that circulate in the social space and negatively affect the degree of trust in the third sector. The purpose of the study is to analyze the trust of Russians in nonprofit organizations in the context of ideological ideas about their activities. Materials and methods. The empirical basis of the study consisted of data from the author’s questionnaire survey conducted among residents of the Republic of Tatarstan, Saratov and Novgorod regions (2024, n = 2760) and content analysis of media materials. Results. The main reasons for distrust in the activities of non-profit organizations lie in the low level of awareness about practices and the results of their work, and are also due to the presence of social myths that prevent the formation of an objective picture. The level of agreement with negative social myths does not always lead to refusal to participate in the implementation of NPO projects. Conclusions. In order to increase trust in the activities of non-profit organizations, it is necessary to raise the level of public awareness of their activities, and NPOs themselves need to more actively involve the population of different age categories in their activities.

Keywords

• trust
• social myth
• non-profit organizations
• npos
• third sector
• social activity