Jonathan Polk
Professor
Trust Matters : the Impact of In-group and Outgroup Trust on Nativism and Civicness
Author
Summary, in English
Objectives
The objectives of this study are threefold: first, we separate trust into a two-dimensional concept: ingroup trust and outgroup trust. Second, we apply both types of trust to two dependent variables: nativism and civicness, hypothesizing that respondents with ingroup trust should display higher degrees of nativism and lower degrees of civicness while the opposite should apply to respondents with outgroup trust. Third, we control for the traditional trust question in order to determine whether there is any value added by separating trust into two dimensions.
Methods
After applying confirmatory factor analysis to a six-item measure in the fifth (2005/2006) wave of the World Values Survey, we identify two kinds of trust—“ingroup” and “outgroup.” We then use various regressions (linear, ordered logistic, and binary logistic) to estimate their effects on different measures of nativism and civicness.
Results
Our results indicate that despite the existence of a moderately strong positive correlation between the two trust measures, once applied to four models of nativism and three models of civicness, these have statistically significant and different relationships, even when controlling for traditional generalized trust.
Conclusions
Our conclusions suggest that outgroup trust reduces nativism while ingroup trust tends to increase it, and, counter to expectations, we find that while ingroup trust varies positively and significantly with civicness measures, outgroup trust does not.
The objectives of this study are threefold: first, we separate trust into a two-dimensional concept: ingroup trust and outgroup trust. Second, we apply both types of trust to two dependent variables: nativism and civicness, hypothesizing that respondents with ingroup trust should display higher degrees of nativism and lower degrees of civicness while the opposite should apply to respondents with outgroup trust. Third, we control for the traditional trust question in order to determine whether there is any value added by separating trust into two dimensions.
Methods
After applying confirmatory factor analysis to a six-item measure in the fifth (2005/2006) wave of the World Values Survey, we identify two kinds of trust—“ingroup” and “outgroup.” We then use various regressions (linear, ordered logistic, and binary logistic) to estimate their effects on different measures of nativism and civicness.
Results
Our results indicate that despite the existence of a moderately strong positive correlation between the two trust measures, once applied to four models of nativism and three models of civicness, these have statistically significant and different relationships, even when controlling for traditional generalized trust.
Conclusions
Our conclusions suggest that outgroup trust reduces nativism while ingroup trust tends to increase it, and, counter to expectations, we find that while ingroup trust varies positively and significantly with civicness measures, outgroup trust does not.
Publishing year
2014
Language
English
Pages
938-959
Publication/Series
Social Science Quarterly
Volume
95
Issue
4
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
Topic
- Political Science
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1540-6237