Particularized trust, generalized trust, and immigrant self-rated health: cross-national analysis of World Values Survey

Social Trust, Religiosity, and Self-Rated Health in the Context of National Religious Pluralism

Trust and religiosity have been individually linked to better health outcomes, but little existing research examines how they may combine to shape health. Drawing on data from the 6th and most recent wave of the World Values Survey, we examine the relationship between particularized and generalized social trust, two dimensions of religiosity (religious attendance and one's belief in the importance of God), and self-rated health across 27 countries. Findings from multilevel models suggest that trust tends to be higher in more religiously pluralistic national contexts, while religiosity in these contexts helps individuals maintain good health. In particular, a higher importance of God (but not religious attendance) can offset the negative health effects of holding low trust in strangers and non-family members (generalized trust), but only in highly pluralistic national contexts. We conclude by offering future research directives that may shed light on the cultural complexities of the various national contexts and their religious compositions.

The Relationship Between Social Class and Generalized Trust: The Mediating Role of Sense of Control

The success and well-being theory of trust holds that higher social class is associated with higher generalized trust, and this association has been well documented in empirical research. However, few studies have examined the processes that might explain this link. This study extends this assumption to explore the mediating mechanism in the association. We hypothesized that social class would positively predict generalized trust, and the relationship would be mediated by people's sense of control. Self-report data were collected from 480 adults (160 males, 320 females; ages 18-61) who participated through an online crowdsourcing platform in China. The results of multiple regression and mediation analyses supported the hypothesized model. This research provides further support for the success and well-being theory of trust, and builds on it by identifying greater sense of control as a possible explanation for the link between high social class and generalized trust. Limitations and possible future research are discussed.

Examining the multilevel associations between psychological wellbeing and social trust: A primary analysis of survey data

The present study examines the associations between multiple measures of social trust and two outcomes of psychological wellbeing (happiness and depression) among South Korean adults (n = 1549) living in residential communities, that is, administrative districts (n = 77) in and around the capital city of Seoul. Based on multilevel modeling, we find that familial trust positively predicts happiness at both individual and contextual levels; and it negatively predicts depression at the individual level only. In comparison, peer trust is negatively related only to depression at the individual level, albeit marginally. Lastly, general trust significantly predicts both outcomes at the community, but not individual, level. These mixed findings suggest that the trust-wellbeing relationship depends critically on issues of definition (how the variables are conceptualized) and measurement (how they are operationalized according to different units of analysis). Our study offers implications for the literature on social determinants of mental health broadly and, more specifically, on the role of social trust.