Changes in income predict change in social trust: A longitudinal analysis (original) (raw)
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Social Class—Not Income Inequality—Predicts Social and Institutional Trust
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Trust is the social glue that holds society together. The academic consensus is that trust is weaker among lower-class individuals and in unequal regions/countries, which is often considered a threat to a healthy society. However, existing studies are inconsistent and have two limitations: (i) variability in the measurement of social class and (ii) small numbers of higher level units (regions/countries). We addressed these problems using large-scale (cross-)national representative surveys (encompassing 560,000+ participants from 1,500+ regional/national units). Multilevel analysis led to two consistent sets of findings. First, the effects of social class on social trust were systematically positive, whereas the effects on institutional trust depended on the way social class was measured. Second, the effects of income inequality on social and institutional trust were systematically nonsignificant and smaller than the smallest negative effect of interest. Our findings suggest that res...
Social Class Predicts Generalized Trust But Only in Wealthy Societies
This research examined the relationship between social class and generalized trust, or a belief that others have a benign intention in social interactions, in a diverse set of societies represented in the World Values Survey. The strength of the relationship varied significantly across societies: Although social class was a positive predictor of generalized trust in wealthy countries, as reported in past research, among less wealthy countries social class was uncorrelated with trust. These results indicate that resources available to individuals of high social class may make a trusting belief more rewarding; nevertheless, in less wealthy societies, the socio-political- economic infrastructure that supports generalized trust is unavailable, and therefore even individuals of high social class are reluctant to trust others. This finding extends prior theorizing on trust in finding the interactive relationship between an individual-level factor and a society- level factor in shaping individuals’ inclination toward trust.
Re-evaluating the individual level causes of trust: a panel data analysis
2007
Existing empirical research into the causes of interpersonal trust identify social connectedness and significant life-events as important cause of what has been termed the attitudinal dimension of social capital. However, the majority of existing investigations are limited by their reliance on cross-sectional data. In this paper, high-quality repeated measures data are used to examine the effect of a range of explanatory variables on subsequent levels of interpersonal trust over a six year period. A fixed effects specification is used to control for the time-invariant characteristics of individuals that might spuriously link the explanatory variables to subsequent changes in trust. The results of the fixed effects model are contrasted with cross-sectional and random effects specifications, which do not control for unobserved individual heterogeneity. While the cross-sectional and random effects models show substantial effects of associational membership and a range of life events on subsequent levels of trust, the fixed effects specification shows only three significant explanatory variables. The only events found to predict a future increase in trust are obtaining a post-compulsory educational qualification, a decline in subjective health status, and improving one's perception of the financial situation of the household. These results support the conclusion that existing cross-sectional studies of the causes of interpersonal trust are likely to be affected by endogeneity bias.
The Socio-Economic Determinants of Interpersonal Trust Levels
We examine the impact of social and macroeconomic determinant such as economic growth, human capital, and population on interpersonal trust levels in the context of contributing to the area of behavioral economics. Two main policy variables included in the model are political stability and rule of law and order which may have promising contributions to raising interpersonal trust levels. We use panel data of five waves from World Value Survey data for fourteen countries during the 1999-2020 period. The findings of the study suggest that rule of law and order and political stability, are highly significant contributors to interpersonal trust. Our findings show an important channel, which is rarely explored before; that is human capital leading to interpersonal trust as it is associated with a higher level of education and health. Moreover, another important contribution of our study is the finding of an indirect role of economic growth on interpersonal trust levels. The inherent rationales for such are further explored in detail in our study.
Trust and Racial Income Inequality: Evidence from the U.S
LSE Research Online Documents on Economics, 2015
Existing studies of trust formation in U.S. metropolitan areas have found that trust is lower when there is more income inequality and greater racial fragmentation. I add to this literature by examining the role of income inequality between racial groups (racial income inequality). I find that greater racial income inequality reduces trust. Also, racial fragmentation is no longer a significant determinant of trust once racial income inequality is accounted for. I also show that racial income inequality has a more detrimental effect in more racially fragmented communities and that trust falls more in minority groups when racial income inequality increases. The results hold under both least squares and instrumental variable estimation.
Trust in the United States: A Discussion on the Decline of Generalized Trust and Its Implications
Trust in the United States: A Discussion on the Decline of Generalized Trust and Its Implications, 2024
Generalized trust, the belief that most people can be trusted, is a critical component of social capital, essential for cooperation, economic growth, and the stability of democratic institutions. In recent decades, trust in the United States has been in steady decline, particularly among younger generations. This paper examines the factors contributing to this decline, drawing from existing academic literature. Rising economic inequality, as noted by Wilkinson and Pickett (2009), is a key driver, exacerbating feelings of alienation and reducing trust, especially among those facing economic insecurity. Political polarization, deepened by partisan divisions and amplified by social media (Sunstein, 2017), has further eroded trust in both institutions and interpersonal relationships. Additionally, the weakening of traditional community structures, such as civic organizations and religious institutions, has diminished opportunities for trust-building (Putnam, 2000). This generational and societal shift poses significant challenges to social cohesion and democratic governance, highlighting the need for comprehensive efforts to rebuild social capital, reduce inequality, and foster political cooperation.
Two concurrent positions have driven research on the relationship between economic factors and social trust across countries: While some research has shown that unequal wealth distribution leads to poor social trust, other research has argued that social trust is the precondition to a country’s economic performance and distribution of economic resources. Using an ecological linear growth model, this study tests these two concurrent positions with data from the first six rounds of the European Social Survey (ESS). This study focuses on the links between socio-economic conditions and inclusive social capital climates, i.e., social climates where inclusive attitudes and generalized trust are widely extended to outgroups. Two models are estimated with Bayesian methods and then compared. The results support the hypothesis that the diffusion of inclusive social capital climates can predict the improvement of a country's socio-economic conditions. However, they also support the opposite hypothesis, according to which the improvement of socio-economic conditions is pivotal in creating a climate of trust. Slightly stronger results are found for the latter hypothesis, suggesting that the enhancement of economic conditions and income distribution may be pivotal in reinforcing the social fabric.
Social and Political Trust in a Low Trust Society
Political Behavior
We study the causal relationship between social and political trust in a low trust society, a setting where this topic has received very little attention. We focus on contemporary Chile, a relatively consolidated new democracy lacking many of the conditions that fosters trust such as high socioeconomic equality, weak social divisions, or universal welfare policies. Our empirical analysis is based on a 4-wave panel survey applied to a representative sample of 2000 Chilean adults interviewed face to face each year between 2016 and 2019. Based on statistical models with varying specifications and assumptions, we find support for the institutionalist view that claims that political trust exercises a positive influence over social trust. However, contrary to recent findings for some European democracies (Sønderskov & Dinesen 2016, Seifert 2018), we also find that social trust positively affects political trust. Our results suggest that the positive relationship between both types of trust travels to different political settings, and that there is no minimum threshold required in levels of trust for this relationship to emerge.