Geographies of Trust

Abstract

Generalized social trust is an important component of social capital and has been linked to a variety of individual- and community-level outcomes, including low crime rates, effective government, and healthy and happy citizens. Drawing on a multicommunity survey conducted in several American towns and cities in 2002, the authors examine the individual and contextual origins of general social trust using the techniques of Hierarchical Linear Modeling. Based on prevailing theoretical understandings of social trust, the authors posit a comprehensive model to account for the contextual variation that remains after controlling for individual-level variables. Two community-level variables, voter turnout and commute times, emerge as important contextual predictors of social trust. The authors explore community attachment as a potential mediator of these effects, finding that it partially mediates the impact of commuting but not voter turnout, results consistent with their distinction between “experiential” and “cultural” theories of social trust formation.

Association Membership and Generalized Trust: Are Connections between Associations Losing their Value?

“…We also include an indicator variable equal to 1 if the respondent is divorced. As divorce is a defining event in one's life, which may well 'reduce an individual's assessment of the goodwill of others' (Paxton, 2007, p. 49), it can be expected to reduce an individual's confidence in others' trustworthiness (e.g., Rahn and Yoon, 2009). Similarly, having children at home may 'increase an individual's sense of vulnerability and thereby decrease his level of trust' (Paxton, 2007, p. 49), which we address via an indicator variable equal to 1 for respondents with children in their home.…”

Subjective Well-Being and Social Capital in Belgian Communities. The Impact of Community Characteristics on Subjective Well-Being Indicators in Belgium

“…The expectation is that specific features of communities or neighborhoods will have an impact on the quality of life of citizens, even controlling for individual background characteristics (Rahn and Yoon 2009). Recent comparative research suggests that the context of an individual accounts for a substantive part of his or her happiness level Stutzer 2000, 2002;Helliwell 2003;Helliwell and Putnam 2004).…”

Implications of Occupational Locus and Focus for Public Service Motivation: Attitudes Toward Work Motives across Nations

“…3 3 Kelleher and Lowery (2009) and Rahn et al (2009) are examples of studies that employ a similar estimation technique. …”