Low General Trust Research Articles

What is the Recipe for High or Low General Trust?

This article investigates the determinants of general trust in a society. A novel method – fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) – is applied, which is consistent with the assumption that the recipe for high or low trust implies a combination of several conditions, and there can be different combinations that all produce the same outcome. It also relaxes the assumption of symmetry: conditions associated with low trust need not mirror conditions associated with high trust, with opposite signs. In this article, data about 79 countries are analysed using fsQCA in order to determine different combinations that would lead to low or high general trust. The results show that for general trust in a society, the Anna Karenina principle seems to apply: all high-trust societies are alike, but for low trust levels, there are many recipes.

Religion and Social Trust: Evidence From Chinese Christians in New Zealand

Social trust is vital for immigrant societies with diverse backgrounds, as it bridges differences, fosters mutual understanding, and facilitates collective actions. While most studies on the relationship between religion and social trust focus on North America and Europe, little is known about this dynamic in New Zealand. This paper examines Chinese New Zealander Christians to explore how religion fosters social trust. The findings were derived from an interpretive analysis of 47 Chinese New Zealander Christians from mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Most interviewees exhibited low general trust in strangers because of the complex and untrustworthy post-pandemic social environment. Believing in Christianity did not mitigate this negative impact. Interviewees’ particular trust in fellow congregators varied. Social network theory offers a plausible explanation for this phenomenon. Most interviewees cultivated trust in fellow congregators through frequent informal interactions outside churches. Regular face-to-face religious activities and a shared religious identity had little impact on forming particular trust in other Christians. Furthermore, Chinese Christians were internally divided based on their homelands and dialects, hindering them from constructing a shared identity. The findings enhance our understanding of how religion affects social trust among ethnic minority immigrants and their identity construction within religious communities.

Consumer trust in social responsibility communications: The role of supply chain visibility

Consumers are becoming more knowledgeable about companies' social responsibility (SR) practices. As a result, they are increasingly skeptical when companies do not provide clear information about these practices. One way to overcome this skepticism is to strengthen consumer trust through improved supply chain transparency. To create transparency requires a company to both gain visibility into its supply chain and disclose information to consumers. However, the current SR literature has only focused on the effect of disclosure on consumer trust, while the effect of visibility on trust in SR communications is not well understood. Our work addresses this gap. In this paper, we employ an incentivized human‐subject laboratory experiment, an online vignette study, and causal mediation analysis to investigate the impact of visibility on consumer trust in a company's SR communication, and as a result, its impact on consumers' purchase decisions. To further enhance our understanding of consumer behavior, we examine how consumer heterogeneity and workers' conditions in the upstream supply chain influence our results. We find that increasing visibility always strengthens consumer trust. Also, opportunities exist for a trust‐driven revenue benefit (due to greater visibility) when consumers are highly prosocial or have low general trust beliefs, or when the impact of an SR initiative is small. Our results underscore the crucial role that supply chain visibility plays in engendering consumer trust. Moreover, identifying trust as a mechanism to help explain the effect of visibility on sales of SR products offers actionable insights to improve a company's communication strategies.

Exchange and the Creation of Trust and Solidarity across Cultures

The emergence of trust and solidarity is arguably foundational for economic development and social order. Yet many studies, often survey-based, document large disparities in general trust and social cohesion between countries. Can mutual trust and solidarity arise between people even in areas of low general trust, or do national cultural contexts block such connections? We report an experimental investigation of the dynamic between national environments and local social interactions, specifically those embedded in social exchange. Results of our experiments conducted in the United States and Romania, societies marked by relatively high and low general trust, respectively, show that while national context impacts the level of relational trust formed within dyads, only this emergent relational trust affects dyadic solidarity in both societies. Importantly, burgeoning solidarity has persistent consequences for future exchanges and subsequent solidarity, thus experimentally demonstrating critical linkages between macro- and micro-level precursors to social order.

Associations between trust and drinking among adolescents.

Trust is closely linked with health, but previous research on its association with alcohol use has yielded mixed findings. The aim of this study is to examine: (i) how two different dimensions of trust (general/institutional) are associated with alcohol use among adolescents; (ii) how these dimensions interact with alcohol use; and (iii) whether the associations are moderated by sex, parenting, health, school satisfaction or economic disadvantage. A nationwide sample of 5549 adolescents (aged 15-16 years) in Sweden answered a questionnaire in school. General and institutional trust were measured with five items each. Logistic regressions were used to examine associations between drinking and the trust dimensions, and the cross-combinations of these. Moderation by sex, parenting, health, school satisfaction and economic disadvantage was tested. General and institutional trust were both significantly associated with drinking. High scores on both dimensions simultaneously were associated with the lowest probability of drinking, and low scores on both with the highest. Low institutional trust had a stronger association than low general trust. The combination of high institutional/low general trust was more protective than low institutional/high general trust. The association between general trust and drinking was moderated by school satisfaction, and the relationship between institutional trust and drinking was moderated by parental support and control. High trust is associated with a lower probability of past-year drinking among 15-16-year-olds. Parents and schools can be useful in endeavours to prevent low-trusting individuals in this age group from drinking.

The Impact of Trust and Risk Perception on the Acceptance of Measures to Reduce COVID-19 Cases.

The SARS‐CoV‐2 virus that causes COVID‐19 has had a large impact on the lives of many people worldwide. At the peak of confirmed COVID‐19 cases during the first wave in Switzerland (March–April 2020), we conducted a survey in the German‐speaking part of the country (N = 1,585). The results suggest that the implemented measures are accepted. The survey participants are more concerned that other family members could catch the virus compared with themselves, and they are worried about its economic impact. The results suggest that how trust is measured is crucial because general trust and social trust have opposite effects on the participants’ risk perceptions. People with high general trust perceive less risks associated with COVID‐19 compared with people who have low general trust, and people with high social trust perceive more risks compared with people who have low social trust. The results further indicate that perceived risks are important drivers for the acceptance of the government's implemented measures to control COVID‐19 and for more precautionary behavior (i.e., contact with fewer people and more hygienic behavior). Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Who does or does not use the 'Corona-Warn-App' and why?

To slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the German government released the “Corona-Warn-App”, a smartphone application that warns users if they have come into contact with other users tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Since using the “Corona-Warn-App” is health-relevant behavior, it is essential to understand who is (and who is not) using it and why. In N = 1,972 German adults, we found that non-users were on average older, female, healthier, in training, and had low general trust in others. The most frequently named reasons by non-users were privacy concerns, doubts about the effectiveness of the app, and lack of technical equipment.

Oxytocin receptor gene polymorphisms moderate the relationship between job stress and general trust in Chinese Han university teachers

BackgroundChronic exposure to stressful work environments can influence general trust. High job stress is associated with low trust in others. Both environmental and genetic factors contribute to general trust; however, few empirical studies have explored the important role of gene–environment interactions on general trust. In this study, the moderating roles of the polymorphisms OXTR rs53576 and OXTR rs2268490 in the relationship between job stress and general trust were evaluated. Methods362 healthy Chinese Han university teachers (196 males, 165 females, and 1 undisclosed) were included (Mage = 39.80, SD = 9.16). Standardized questionnaires about demographic characteristics, job stress, and general trust scale were collected. Blood samples were collected for OXTR rs53576 and rs2268490 genotyping. ResultsJob stress scores showed a significant negative main effect on general trust (p < 0.001), while OXTR rs53576 and rs2268490 did not (p > 0.05). The effect of the interaction between job stress and OXTR rs53576 or rs2268490 on general trust was significant, even after controlling for gender and age. High job stress was associated with low general trust in OXTR rs53576 homozygous individuals (GG/AA) or OXTR rs2268490 CT individuals, demonstrating that the GA genotype in OXTR rs53576 and CC/TT genotype in OXTR rs2268490 are protective genotype of general trust. LimitationsThis study used a cross-sectional design, only considered Chinese Han university teachers, and only examined two polymorphisms in OXTR. ConclusionsOur findings provide evidence that gene–environment interactions influence general trust and identify a new locus (rs2268490) underlying this phenotype.

Consumer Trust in Social Responsibility Communications: The Role of Supply Chain Visibility

Consumers are becoming more knowledgeable about companies' social responsibility (SR) practices. As a result, they are increasingly skeptical when companies do not provide clear information about these practices. One way to overcome this skepticism is to strengthen consumer trust through improved supply chain transparency. To create transparency requires a company to both gain visibility into its supply chain and disclose information to consumers. However, the current SR literature has only focused on the effect that disclosure has on consumer trust, while the effect of visibility on trust in communications is not well understood. Our work addresses this gap. In this paper, we employ an incentivized, human-subject laboratory experiment to investigate the impact of visibility on consumer trust in a company's SR communication, and as a result, its impact on consumers' purchase decisions. To further enhance our understanding of consumer behavior, we examine how consumer heterogeneity and workers' conditions in the upstream supply chain influence our results. We apply causal mediation analysis to answer our research questions. We find that increasing visibility always strengthens consumer trust. Furthermore, opportunities exist for a trust-driven revenue benefit (due to greater visibility) when consumers are highly prosocial or have low general trust beliefs, or when the impact of an SR initiative is small. Our results underscore the crucial role that supply chain visibility plays in engendering consumer trust. Moreover, our identification of trust as a mechanism to help explain the effect of visibility on sales of SR products can provide companies with more actionable recommendations.

Taming cronyism!: the role of Public Private Dialogues

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of Public Private Dialogues (PPD) on cronyism accounting for various cultural and governance institutions.Design/methodology/approachIt proposes a number of hypotheses on: whether PPD characterized by high official representation and business representation, through mainly building trust, succeed in minimizing cronyism; whether certain cultural and governance institutions help PPD in achieving this; and in cultural settings which are originally inducing cronyism whether PPD help in minimizing cronyism. These are tested empirically using an ordinary least squares multivariate panel regression.FindingsHigh official representation and high business people’s participation in PPD were found to help in minimizing cronyism in different cultures. This is arguably attributed to building trust in cultures characterized by having low general trust and low trust in governments. Accountability and transparency are significantly assisting PPD in this regard. Yet, PPD do not always succeed in taming cronyism, and in particular in ethnic fractionalized societies and societies having high collective cultures.Research limitations/implicationsThe biggest challenge this research faced was estimating a proxy for PPD. Better data on business associations’ participation worldwide are needed to construct a more developed proxy.Practical implicationsPPD with high business participation and government representation should be encouraged. The same is true for reform leading to higher levels of transparency and accountability.Originality/valueConstructing a proxy for PPD that allowed meta-analysis; and investigating theoretically and empirically the effect of the interaction of PPD with various institutions on cronyism.

Relationships Between Commuting and Social Capital Among Men and Women in Southern Sweden.

The societal need for a mobile workforce increases time spent commuting and thus also the total workday. How this affects individual well-being and social life is, however, surprisingly little known. We investigated the relation between commuting time and mode, and social participation and general trust in other people as measures of social capital, using data from public health surveys conducted in 2004 and 2008 in Scania, Sweden: in all, 21,088 persons ages 18 to 65 and working at least 30 hr per week. Commuting by car was significantly associated with a higher prevalence of low social participation and low general trust compared with active commuting, and the association increased with the duration of commuting time. In contrast, public commuting was not significantly associated with decreased social capital measures except among long-duration commuters, who reported lower social participation. The overall pattern was similar for men and for women.

In Search of Social Capital in State-Activist Capitalism: Elite Networks in France and Korea

This paper argues that the absence of high trust social capital has not prevented firms from performing well in economies with the dirigiste tradition. Despite low general trust, France and Korea have recorded sound growth rates and innovation performance, thus contradicting the central argument of social capital theory. Drawing on the dirigiste tradition, we suggest that elite networks of France and Korea are an idiosyncratic form of social capital, nurtured through their institutional arrangements such as low trust, concentrated power relations and state-run elite education. The elite networks enhance the coordination efficiency of economic relations through state activism, constituting an alternative to high trust social capital.