Political Trust by Individuals of low Socioeconomic Status: The Key Role of Anomie
The socioeconomic status (SES) of individuals is related to their political trust. The higher their status, the more they trust the political system. This well-known relation is generally explained in terms of socialisation. The higher the SES, the more people are exposed to democratic values or int...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for Psychology
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Social Psychological Bulletin |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://spb.psychopen.eu/index.php/spb/article/view/6897 |
| _version_ | 1828080134556483584 |
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| author | Thierry Bornand Olivier Klein |
| author_facet | Thierry Bornand Olivier Klein |
| author_sort | Thierry Bornand |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The socioeconomic status (SES) of individuals is related to their political trust. The higher their status, the more they trust the political system. This well-known relation is generally explained in terms of socialisation. The higher the SES, the more people are exposed to democratic values or interact with trustworthy institutions. This increases political interest, which increases political trust. In this study, we propose a complementary explanation: lower SES enhances the perception that the social fabric is breaking down (anomie), and this reduces political trust. We test this hypothesis by using structural equation modeling (SEM) on a representative survey (n = 1203) conducted in the Wallonia region of Belgium. That region appeared suited to explore our hypothesis because of its long-term economic difficulties. The results reveal that those of low SES have less political trust because they perceive more anomie in society. These results are consistent even when the alternative explanation is taken into account (the socialisation hypothesis). Moreover, the results also showed that a higher level of anomie reduced interpersonal trust which reduced political trust (serial mediation). These results highlight the key role of anomie when considering the relation of SES with political trust. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T03:13:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-03787c206fe9439b8f51bcff60cae8f1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2569-653X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T03:13:24Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for Psychology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Psychological Bulletin |
| spelling | doaj.art-03787c206fe9439b8f51bcff60cae8f12023-01-02T10:49:50ZengPsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for PsychologySocial Psychological Bulletin2569-653X2022-05-011710.32872/spb.6897spb.6897Political Trust by Individuals of low Socioeconomic Status: The Key Role of AnomieThierry Bornand0Olivier Klein1Faculté des Sciences psychologiques et de l'Éducation, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, BelgiumFaculté des Sciences psychologiques et de l'Éducation, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, BelgiumThe socioeconomic status (SES) of individuals is related to their political trust. The higher their status, the more they trust the political system. This well-known relation is generally explained in terms of socialisation. The higher the SES, the more people are exposed to democratic values or interact with trustworthy institutions. This increases political interest, which increases political trust. In this study, we propose a complementary explanation: lower SES enhances the perception that the social fabric is breaking down (anomie), and this reduces political trust. We test this hypothesis by using structural equation modeling (SEM) on a representative survey (n = 1203) conducted in the Wallonia region of Belgium. That region appeared suited to explore our hypothesis because of its long-term economic difficulties. The results reveal that those of low SES have less political trust because they perceive more anomie in society. These results are consistent even when the alternative explanation is taken into account (the socialisation hypothesis). Moreover, the results also showed that a higher level of anomie reduced interpersonal trust which reduced political trust (serial mediation). These results highlight the key role of anomie when considering the relation of SES with political trust.https://spb.psychopen.eu/index.php/spb/article/view/6897political trustsocioeconomic statusanomierepresentative surveysem |
| spellingShingle | Thierry Bornand Olivier Klein Political Trust by Individuals of low Socioeconomic Status: The Key Role of Anomie Social Psychological Bulletin political trust socioeconomic status anomie representative survey sem |
| title | Political Trust by Individuals of low Socioeconomic Status: The Key Role of Anomie |
| title_full | Political Trust by Individuals of low Socioeconomic Status: The Key Role of Anomie |
| title_fullStr | Political Trust by Individuals of low Socioeconomic Status: The Key Role of Anomie |
| title_full_unstemmed | Political Trust by Individuals of low Socioeconomic Status: The Key Role of Anomie |
| title_short | Political Trust by Individuals of low Socioeconomic Status: The Key Role of Anomie |
| title_sort | political trust by individuals of low socioeconomic status the key role of anomie |
| topic | political trust socioeconomic status anomie representative survey sem |
| url | https://spb.psychopen.eu/index.php/spb/article/view/6897 |
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