Social Capital in East Asia: Comparative Political Culture in Confucian Societies

Abstract

This paper tests the hypotheses that the tide of globalization undermines or reinforces the traditional types of social capital. Using the 2006 AsiaBarometer Survey data and applying two-level logit regression analysis, this paper found that social capital related to sense of trust or human nature and interpersonal relations can be augmented by globalization, while social capital regarding familialism and mindfulness can be weakened.

The dimensionality of trust-relevant constructs in four institutional domains: results from confirmatory factor analyses

“…Finally, our results may not generalize to institutions in Eastern nations such as China, Japan, and South Korea, or even Eastern European Nations like Bulgaria, Poland, and Hungary. Indeed, there is considerable evidence that institutional trust operates quite differently in Western and Eastern institutions (e.g., Cole & Cohn, 2016;Inoguchi, Mikami, & Fujii, 2007;Peng, 2014;Tan & Tambyah, 2011). Such research, examined in conjunction with theoretical work aimed at fostering an integrated understanding of Eastern and Western properties of trust (Li, 2008), and of the role of context for trust more generally (CamposCastillo et al, 2016), offers promising directions for trust research.…”

Soft landings: Extending the cushion hypothesis to financial well‐being in collectivistic cultures

“…South Korea and Taiwan are collectivistic cultures influenced by Confucianism (Inoguchi et al, 2007;Inoguchi & Shin, 2009). As an ideology, Confucianism values family loyalty, respect for status and hierarchy, self-cultivation, and a concern for social harmony (Eckert et al, 1990).…”