Generalized Trust Through Civic Engagement? Evidence from Five National Panel Studies

Abstract

According to a popular version of social capital theory, civic engagement should produce generalized trust among citizens. We put this theory to the test by examining the causal connection between civic engagement and generalized trust using multiple methods and multiple (prospective) panel datasets. We found participants to be more trusting. This was mostly likely caused by selection effects: the causal effects of civic engagement on trust were very small or nonsignificant. In the cases where small causal effects were found, they turned out not to last. We found no differences across types of organizations and only minor variations across countries.

The Role of School Climate in Explaining Changes in Social Trust Over Time

“…For one, our findings support the notion that social trust remains open to influences that we modify in response to experiences (Dinesen, 2012;Laurence, 2015). Such thinking contradicts findings showing no effects of negative experiences on social trust (Bauer, 2014;van Ingen & Bekkers, 2015). Notably, our results draw attention to adolescence, which represents a period of dramatic changes when political values and beliefs are shaped (Niemi & Hepburn, 1995;Sears & Brown, 2013, p. 75).…”

Crowdsourcing Public Opinion Using Urban Pervasive Technologies: Lessons From Real‐Life Experiments in Oulu

“…The project team set out to foster civic engagement by attempting to create mutual and long‐term benefits for individuals as well as for city officials. van Ingen and Bekkers () have recently identified several pressing reasons for conducting such longitudinal studies. The project deployed a permanent grid of interactive displays at the heart of Oulu to allow citizens to better connect with city officials.…”

Trusting the State, Trusting Each Other? The Effect of Institutional Trust on Social Trust

“…While this theoretical conjecture leaves room for optimism with regard to raising social trust, the empirical evidence for the proposition that participation in voluntary organizations furthers trust is sparseespecially when reverse causality (i.e. trust leading to participation) is taken into account (Bekkers 2012;Claibourn and Martin 2000;Stolle 2001;Uslaner 2002;van Ingen and Bekkers 2015). Nannestad (2008, p. 423) eloquently summarizes this in his review of research on social [generalized] trust: ''It seems that most empirical studies have not been kind to the civic society explanation of generalized trust, and that this is true especially for studies addressing endogeneity problems properly.''…”