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Ethnic diversity, poverty and social trust in Germany: evidence from a behavioral measure of trust
[journal article]
Abstract Several scholars have concluded that ethnic diversity has negative consequences for social trust. However, recent research has called into question whether ethnic diversity per se has detrimental effects, or whether lower levels of trust in diverse communities simply reflect a higher concentration o... view more
Several scholars have concluded that ethnic diversity has negative consequences for social trust. However, recent research has called into question whether ethnic diversity per se has detrimental effects, or whether lower levels of trust in diverse communities simply reflect a higher concentration of less trusting groups, such as poor people, minorities, or immigrants. Drawing upon a nationally representative sample of the German population (GSOEP), we make two contributions to this debate. First, we examine how ethnic diversity at the neighborhood level - specifically the proportion of immigrants in the neighborhood - is linked to social trust focusing on the compositional effect of poverty. Second, in contrast to the majority of current research on ethnic diversity, we use a behavioral measure of trust in combination with fine-grained (zip-code level) contextual measures of ethnic composition and poverty. Furthermore, we are also able to compare the behavioral measure to a standard attitudinal trust question. We find that household poverty partially accounts for lower levels of trust, and that after controlling for income, German and non-German respondents are equally trusting. However, being surrounded by neighbors with immigrant background is also associated with lower levels of social trust... view less
Keywords
cultural diversity; ethnicity; multicultural society; poverty; minority; migrant; neighborhood; confidence; social cohesion; Federal Republic of Germany
Classification
General Sociology, Basic Research, General Concepts and History of Sociology, Sociological Theories
Free Keywords
economics of poverty; experimental economics; game theory
Document language
English
Publication Year
2018
Page/Pages
p. 1-15
Journal
PLOS ONE, 13 (2018) 7
Handle
https://hdl.handle.net/10419/182474
ISSN
1932-6203
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed