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Who Are the Trustworthy, We Think?
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Who Are the Trustworthy, We Think?

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  • Johansson-Stenman, Olof

    (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University)

Abstract

In a representative Swedish sample people were asked to judge the relative extent that different groups of people are considered trustworthy in several dimensions, including their political views and reading habits. A statistically significant effect of similarity on perceived trustworthiness was found in each of the seven dimensions analyzed. For example, right-wing voters consider Social Democratic voters to be much less trustworthy than right-wing voters, and vice versa. Thus, it seems that perceived trustworthiness decreases quite generally with the social distance. It is argued that social identity theory offers a plausible explanation. Moreover, older people are generally considered more trustworthy than younger, and people living in small cities are considered more trustworthy than people living in big cities.

Suggested Citation

  • Johansson-Stenman, Olof, 2006. "Who Are the Trustworthy, We Think?," Working Papers in Economics 222, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0222
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    social capital; trustworthiness; social distance; identity; social identity; self-signalling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C42 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Survey Methods
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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