What is trust?

5.1. What is trust?#

Trust

  1. Knowledge of the relevant definition of trust.

  2. Basic understanding of the data provided by the service “our world in data” regarding trust.

In this and the following chapter we will deal with the topic of trust within a society. We will use data compiled by Our World in Data.

5.1.1. Article on Trust by Our World in Data#

Excercise: Text on Trust

Read the article Trust by Esteban Ortiz-Ospina, Max Roser, and Pablo Arriagada.

Answer the following questions:

  1. In which context was the data on trust collected?

  2. How were participants asked about their trust?

  3. Which variables about trust are represented in the data?

Solution

  1. The data on trust was collected in the context of a survey conducted by the World Values Survey (WVS) and the European Values Study (EVS).

  2. Participants were asked about their trust in other people, specifically whether they believe that most people can be trusted or if one needs to be careful in dealing with others.

    One of the questions asked was: “Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you need to be very careful in dealing with people?”

  3. Some of the variables are:

    • Share of people agreeing with the statement “most people can be trusted”

    • GDP per capita

    • Gini coefficient of income inequality

5.1.2. Convergent validity of trust measurement#

The article analyzes the convergent validity of the trust measurement by comparing two survey instruments. The result is shown in Fig. 5.1.

../_images/convergent_validity_of_trust_measurements.png

Fig. 5.1 Convergent validity of trust measurement#

Excercise: Differences in Trust Measurement

Compare the results for the following countries:

  • China

  • Finland

  • France

  • Germany

  • United States

  • Zimbabwe

Note down the differences and rank the countries by the measurement difference.

Solution

The differences in trust measurement for the selected countries are as follows:

  • China: NA

  • Finland: 11 percentage points

  • France: 6.2 percentage points

  • Germany: 6.5 percentage points

  • United States: NA

  • Zimbabwe: 0.6 percentage points

The ranking of the countries by measurement difference is therefore:

  1. Finland (11 percentage points)

  2. Germany (6.5 percentage points)

  3. France (6.2 percentage points)

  4. Zimbabwe (0.6 percentage points)

  5. China (NA)

  6. United States (NA)

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