The Interplay of Social Status and Trust: A Critical Review of Concepts, Operationalizations, and Findings

Abstract

This review examines the relationship between a person’s social status and trust. Previous research has yielded differing results. On one hand, studies have repeatedly found positive correlations of different strengths between social status and trust; that is, persons with higher social status trust more than persons with lower social status. On the other hand, empirical evidence has also suggested a negative correlation between social status and trust; that is, persons with lower social status trust more than persons with higher social status. In addition to a systematic analysis of the various theoretical approaches and the respective study results, possible causes for these diverging empirical findings are discussed. With regard to the relationship between socioeconomic status and generalized trust, all studies reviewed show a positive correlation. Contradictory results can be found only in studies that investigated socioeconomic status and trust, measured as behavior. In addition to the different operationalizations of social status and trust, one potential cause for different results may be found in the fact that in experimental settings, the social status of the interaction partner is often known.

Jumping on the Bandwagon: The Role of Voters’ Social Class in Poll Effects in the Context of the 2021 German Federal Election

“…This result suggests that lower-class voters correctly understand the information conveyed in polls but use it systematically differently than higher-class voters do. At the same time, this finding contradicts the potential alternative assumption that people of lower social class attach less weight to poll results when making their own voting decisions because of their lower level of generalized trust (Dahlhaus and Schlösser 2021;Kim et al 2022). Based on these assumptions and results, we derived the hypothesis that the results of preelection polls more strongly influence voting intentions among people of lower (vs. higher) social class.…”

La influencia de la preparación para las relaciones socioafectivas en el bienestar psicológico y la autonomía de los jóvenes en el sistema de protección

“…Conjuntamente, las relaciones se determinan por el estatus social de los individuos que la conforman, aunque la influencia del estatus puede ser modulada por la experiencia y las habilidades y estrategias que estos aplican en la consolidación de los vínculos, variables que explicarían que los individuos con más preparación para relacionarse disfruten de un mayor nivel de bienestar psicológico (Chase, 2020;Dahlhaus & Schlösser, 2021;Hassall et al, 2021;Larsen et al, 2021;Tahkola et al, 2021).…”

Superior bias in trust-related decisions

“…(Fiske, 2012;Tavares et al, 2015;Wu et al, 2014), is an essential social characteristic of people that attracts researchers to explore the relationship between social status and trust. Previous studies have paid active attention to one dimension, that is, how the social status of the person who trusts others (the "trustor") influences their trust tendency (Dahlhaus & Schlösser, 2021). However, the degree to which social status, as the characteristic of the person trusted (the "trustee"), affects others' trust-related decisions is limited.…”

“…This issue should not be ignored because it is the antecedent to some significant phenomena, such as leadership and organizational performance. It is no exaggeration to say that this issue may be frequently encountered in the daily working life between employees and superiors (Dahlhaus & Schlösser, 2021). From the employees' perspectives, their degree of trust in superiors may be related to their productivity.…”