Interpersonal trust across six Asia-Pacific countries: testing and extending the 'high trust society' and 'low trust society' theory.

<h4>Background</h4>Trust is regarded as a necessary component for the smooth running of society, although societal and political modernising processes have been linked to an increase in mistrust, potentially signalling social and economic problems. Fukuyama developed the notion of '...

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Main Authors: Paul R Ward, Loreen Mamerow, Samantha B Meyer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/24760052/?tool=EBI
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author Paul R Ward
Loreen Mamerow
Samantha B Meyer
author_facet Paul R Ward
Loreen Mamerow
Samantha B Meyer
author_sort Paul R Ward
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>Trust is regarded as a necessary component for the smooth running of society, although societal and political modernising processes have been linked to an increase in mistrust, potentially signalling social and economic problems. Fukuyama developed the notion of 'high trust' and 'low trust' societies, as a way of understanding trust within different societies. The purpose of this paper is to empirically test and extend Fukuyama's theory utilising data on interpersonal trust in Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Australia and Thailand. This paper focuses on trust in family, neighbours, strangers, foreigners and people with a different religion.<h4>Methods</h4>Cross-sectional surveys were undertaken in 2009-10, with an overall sample of 6331. Analyses of differences in overall levels of trust between countries were undertaken using Chi square analyses. Multivariate binomial logistic regression analysis was undertaken to identify socio-demographic predictors of trust in each country.<h4>Results</h4>Our data indicate a tripartite trust model: 'high trust' in Australia and Hong Kong; 'medium trust' in Japan and Taiwan; and 'low trust' in South Korea and Thailand. Trust in family and neighbours were very high across all countries, although trust in people with a different religion, trust in strangers and trust in foreigners varied considerably between countries. The regression models found a consistent group of subpopulations with low trust across the countries: people on low incomes, younger people and people with poor self-rated health. The results were conflicting for gender: females had lower trust in Thailand and Hong Kong, although in Australia, males had lower trust in strangers, whereas females had lower trust in foreigners.<h4>Conclusion</h4>This paper identifies high, medium and low trust societies, in addition to high and low trusting population subgroups. Our analyses extend the seminal work of Fukuyama, providing both corroboration and refutation for his theory.
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spelling doaj.art-c36d00ab6e4145018a1fd08e674d706f2022-12-21T18:10:40ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032014-01-0194e9555510.1371/journal.pone.0095555Interpersonal trust across six Asia-Pacific countries: testing and extending the 'high trust society' and 'low trust society' theory.Paul R WardLoreen MamerowSamantha B Meyer<h4>Background</h4>Trust is regarded as a necessary component for the smooth running of society, although societal and political modernising processes have been linked to an increase in mistrust, potentially signalling social and economic problems. Fukuyama developed the notion of 'high trust' and 'low trust' societies, as a way of understanding trust within different societies. The purpose of this paper is to empirically test and extend Fukuyama's theory utilising data on interpersonal trust in Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Australia and Thailand. This paper focuses on trust in family, neighbours, strangers, foreigners and people with a different religion.<h4>Methods</h4>Cross-sectional surveys were undertaken in 2009-10, with an overall sample of 6331. Analyses of differences in overall levels of trust between countries were undertaken using Chi square analyses. Multivariate binomial logistic regression analysis was undertaken to identify socio-demographic predictors of trust in each country.<h4>Results</h4>Our data indicate a tripartite trust model: 'high trust' in Australia and Hong Kong; 'medium trust' in Japan and Taiwan; and 'low trust' in South Korea and Thailand. Trust in family and neighbours were very high across all countries, although trust in people with a different religion, trust in strangers and trust in foreigners varied considerably between countries. The regression models found a consistent group of subpopulations with low trust across the countries: people on low incomes, younger people and people with poor self-rated health. The results were conflicting for gender: females had lower trust in Thailand and Hong Kong, although in Australia, males had lower trust in strangers, whereas females had lower trust in foreigners.<h4>Conclusion</h4>This paper identifies high, medium and low trust societies, in addition to high and low trusting population subgroups. Our analyses extend the seminal work of Fukuyama, providing both corroboration and refutation for his theory.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/24760052/?tool=EBI
spellingShingle Paul R Ward
Loreen Mamerow
Samantha B Meyer
Interpersonal trust across six Asia-Pacific countries: testing and extending the 'high trust society' and 'low trust society' theory.
PLoS ONE
title Interpersonal trust across six Asia-Pacific countries: testing and extending the 'high trust society' and 'low trust society' theory.
title_full Interpersonal trust across six Asia-Pacific countries: testing and extending the 'high trust society' and 'low trust society' theory.
title_fullStr Interpersonal trust across six Asia-Pacific countries: testing and extending the 'high trust society' and 'low trust society' theory.
title_full_unstemmed Interpersonal trust across six Asia-Pacific countries: testing and extending the 'high trust society' and 'low trust society' theory.
title_short Interpersonal trust across six Asia-Pacific countries: testing and extending the 'high trust society' and 'low trust society' theory.
title_sort interpersonal trust across six asia pacific countries testing and extending the high trust society and low trust society theory
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/24760052/?tool=EBI
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