Social Ties and Generalized Trust, Online and in Person

Abstract

Results of the present survey (n = 888) suggest that having strong social ties (or bonding social capital) fosters generalized trust, in support of conflict theory. There was no link between bridging social capital, or one’s more diverse ties, and trust. Facebook use was found to have an indirect but positive influence on trust through levels of bonding social capital. Civic engagement was also positively related to trust through the same measure of bonding social capital, allowing like-minded members of civic groups to connect, which spilled over to trust. Neither Facebook use nor civic engagement directly influenced generalized trust. This study suggests the viability of both physical (civic) and digital (Facebook) modes of reengaging trust in an ever-diversifying society. The “virtuous circle,” in which social trust and civic engagement prop one another up in a reciprocal fashion, instead looks like a figure eight here. Each measure indirectly boosted the other by first growing bonding social capital. When considered alongside divergent findings from Canada, this appears to be an American response to the increasing size of racial minority groups. Hispanic citizens make up the same portion of the American population as do all minority groups in Canada combined. These findings then represent a White reaction to an increasing Hispanic presence in America. Bounded solidarity in the form of strong, homogenous ties is shown as the path to trust in this setting.

Facebook Friends as an Indicator of the Social Capital Structural Dimensions of Youth in Croatia

“…Nadovezujući se na tu definiciju, istraživanje Ellison i njezinih suradnika Steinfielda i Lampea (2011) upućuje na to da Facebook služi za održavanje postojećih društvenih mreža, da su one uvjetovane lokalnošću prostora poznavanja (škola, fakultet) kao i to da se u potrazi za novim kontaktima na svojoj mreži traže osobe sličnih sociokulturnih karakteristika dok se iznimno rijetko to isto radi s potpunim strancima (Bouchillon, 2014;West, Lewis, i Currie, 2009). Druga istraživanja pak ukazuju na istovjetnu prisutnost premošćujućih i povezujućih karakteristika društvenog kapitala pri korištenju Facebooka (npr.…”

“…Koncept društvenog kapitala nameće se kao logičan teorijsko-metodološki okvir unutar kojega se mogu dobiti odgovori na postavljena pitanja. Dapače, prema pojedinim autorima, kontakti i razmjena informacija na internetskim društvenim mrežama imaju snažan potencijal za objašnjavanje različitih dimenzija društvenog kapitala (Best i Krueger, 2006;Bouchillon, 2014;Burke, Kraut i Marlow, 2011;Ellison, Steinfield i Lampe, 2011;Kwon, D'Angelo i McLeod, 2013;Vitak i Ellison, 2013), no ostaje vidjeti može li količina »prijatelja« na Facebooku objasniti specifične dimenzije društvenog kapitala. Društveni kapital, operacionaliziran prema komunikacijsko-programskim specifičnostima internetskih društve-nih mreža, u ovom će se radu tako koristiti kao analitički aparat koji će broj prijatelja na Facebooku tretirati kao potencijalni pokazatelj prirode tih veza izvan međumrežne komunikacije korisnika i korisnica (Mcmillan i Morrison 2006;Schwarz, 2010).…”

A Retrospective Clinical Study to Evaluate Treatment Outcomes of Vital Pulp Therapy with ProRootRTM Mineral Trioxide Aggregate, EndosequenceRTM Root Repair Material, and Biodentine RTM

“…Additionally, other researchers suggest the amount of time spent characteristic is synonymous with duration and frequency of contact as well as emotional intensity with relational closeness (Gilbert & Karahalios, 2009;Marsden & Campbell, 1984. Individuals with a weak tie share little closeness and are usually associated with the flow of novel information throughout a network (Granovetter, 1973;Marsden & Campbell, 1984Nelson, 1989) and individuals who share a strong tie typically have a close, endearing relationship (Nelson, 1989), usually associated with trust and emotional/social support (Bouchillon, 2014;Gilbert & Karahalios, 2009). Although tie strength should be considered continuous (Granovetter, 1973;Marsden & Campbell, 2012), it tends to be viewed as binary in the literature (i.e., weak and strong; Marsden & Campbell, 1984Ryu & Feick, 2007;Tang & Chen, 2013) because of methodologically practical implications.…”

“…A person's strong ties, in general, have more influence over one's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors than do weak ties. Individuals are more trusting of people with whom they have strong ties than weak ties (Bouchillon, 2014) and the people an individual is strongly tied with are perceived as more credible than the people the individual is weakly tied with (Granovetter, 1983); as such, information from strong ties is perceived as more influential in the receiver's decision making compared to information from weak ties (Brown & Reingen, 1987;Frenzen & Davis, 1990;Weenig & Midden, 1991). Individuals also tend to automatically present themselves more favorably to strangers but more modestly to strong ties because of expectation for future interaction, prior knowledge of the individual, or accountability for exaggerating (Tice, Butler, Muraven, & Stillwell, 1995).…”

“…Although the influence of strong ties over a person's self-image (Tang & Chen, 2013) and behaviors (Urberg et al, 1997) as well as the investment (Granovetter, 1983) and trust (Bouchillon, 2014) people place upon strong ties, the possible additive and aggregate amount of tie strength have yet to be explored in regard to influence. Due to the unique influences of various types of strong ties (e.g., family, best friends), a possibility is that the larger the aggregate amount of tie strength-i.e., the cumulative amount of strength between people and their connections-the more influence and pressure the person at the center of the network could experience.…”